Budding Film Mogul Bites The Dust!

3 years ago, I was approached to invest in a new film production called "The Mortician". I was told that it was a high risk investment, as there is many hurdles to overcome, before the film is ultimately released.

Most films fall by the wayside before they even get to filming! With "The Mortician" everything seemed to be going well until last November, when we were invited to see a private screening of "The Mortician" at the BAFTA offices in London. Then we were told the film company was still trying to raise another £500,000 to pay their creditors.

Even though the film was completed and ready for release, we were told it was to be shown at the Berlin Film Festival, where negotitations would be made for the distribution rights around the world. Once the festival was over, I was expecting news of the films imminent release. Instead there was a sudden silence.

About a month later, I started to receive emails from one of Full Circle's directors informing me that he was starting up a new film company, and I was invited to come along and invest in the new project! I am not that stupid to be bitten twice!

I then tried to go to the web site of Full Circle Films, but couldn't gain access to it. I wasn't sure if it was a problem with my computer, or the website itself. So I left it alone, and continued to wait for some news to appear.

Today, I tried again; and again, I couldn't gain access to the Full Circle website. I then started a more indepth search and came across a statement published earlier this month in the London Gazette that Full Circle Films has ceased trading!

It now seems increasingly likely that I will never see my investment returned, unless the film gets a cinema or DVD release. The only saving grace is I got some money back from the Government via the EIS tax rebate scheme. I only decided to take this risk as the money I had in savings was forcing me into the higher (40%) tax bracket, and this was a way of turning the tables on the Government. Had the venture worked, I would have been happy with a small profit. Now, all I can say is I have learned an expensive, but valuable lesson, and I am glad that I invested only the minimum amount allowed, so my loss is not going to be as big as it might have been if I had listened to the hype about how succussful the film was going to be, and invested more money!

Now I will have to make money the hard way, by working for it!

An Evenings Entertainment

Last night, my wife and I trundled off to London to see a special private (not a premiere as I had first thought) screening for investors only of the film "The Mortician".

My personal assessment of the film is as follows :-

I found the film was very slow to get started. I found it difficult to work out what was going on, and where the story was leading to.

The 3D effects were very good, although I did notice that when the camera panned along a street following a character, any graffiti writing on the walls went all blurry.

I found that Method Man's character, had very little depth to it. We learn he is a mortician and a taxidermist, but even with the flashbacks of his past, it is difficult to see what makes him tick emotionally.

The baddie in the movie is Dash Mihok's character "Carver". Again, I felt that more could have been done with his character, especially early in the film, showing more of his ruthless methods of keeping rivals and victims down. Then the second half of the film would have been even more tense.

Once the film got going, and the characters had taken on personalities, then it became interesting. I must admit I have never seen a movie where the principle character (Method Man) is shown as a coward, and basically frightened of his own shadow. Even with having to cope with his fears, he still manages to help others stand up for themselves. He eventually arrives at a position to help clear up any loose ends both physically and emotionally, as he comes to terms with his own demons.

There was one part that had me confused. When Method Man goes back to his home town to seek information about his mother, a woman who knew his mother informs him that she was murdered, and he was taken away without ever being given the chance to see her and grieve. So, why then is there a flashback of Method Man as a child looking at an open coffin of a woman, presumably his mother?

As an investor, I sincerely hope that people will go and see this film. In reality, It definitely will not catch on the way films such as "Slumdog Millionaire", "Ghost", and "The Full Monty" did. As the film was completed on a shoestring budget, it is quite an impressive achievement, and perhaps there may be a little profit in it for us, eventually.

Secretly, I was hoping that during the end credits, there would have been a special thanks to all the investors who had contributed to the film. Unfortunately, it looks like we will have to remain anonymous!

We're off to see a premiere!

As I have mentioned previously, I was lucky enough to be able to invest in a movie. This was three years ago. Now, on Monday 13th December, my wife and I have been invited to see the premiere of "The Mortician". We will meet the actors, directors, and other investors, and probably move on after the film to the celebration party afterwards.

I am hoping that I will be able to get an extra ticket, so that my daughter can also come along too!

Computer Gremlins finally beaten??

After spending nearly a month trying to get my computer to record VHS video, I think I have finally cracked it!

After struggling with problems of no video, then audio clicking noises, and lack of synchronisation between video and audio, I was getting nowhere fast! Every time I managed to sort one problem out, I created two other problems to fix! As you can see, I am not very good with finding a simple solution to my problems!

I finally found what actually works for me. I had to upgrade my sound card, and install a newer version of Pinnacle Studio. By upgrading from version 10 to version 14, I have at last managed to successfully transfer VHS video footage onto my computer, and burn a test DVD from it. It all worked!

My friend Warren has been pestering me, wanting to know when he can have his DVD! I could have simply given him a straight forward video transfer to him, but I decided that I can do better than that! I am now attempting to break the video footage into chapters, and create a menu for the DVD. This I have finally achieved, and as I write this, my other computer is busy preparing to write the video footage to disk.

When the computer has finished processing, I have one final task to complete. I have to create some artwork for the Jewel case inserts! I don't think I should have any major problems doing this, but judging from past experience, you never can tell!

The Mortician

Nearly two years ago, I was approached to invest in a movie called the Mortician. Just before Christmas they commenced filming in 3D over in New Orleans. They also did a documentary "The Making of" program that will be included on the DVD release later. I was sent a link to a few clips uploaded onto YouTube. It doesn't show very much about the plot, just some of the actors and production crew. You can see the clips below -




Sometime in the summer the film will be premiered on London, and I will be invited to attend, and meet all the actors! I may have to hire a dinner jacket and bow tie for the occasion! I think I had better have a word with my wife, as she will also need to have a special dress for the occasion!

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An OK film. Had a chortle over some of the antics Jim Carrey got up to.









Very interesting and worrying plot, where a super computer takes on a life of its own and arbitrarily decides who lives and dies in its version of utopia.

Very interesting film if, ultimately, a bit sad at the end.

Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday was our second wedding anniversary. I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly! It ended up being quite a busy day for me, hence writing about it today!

When I finished my night shift, on the way home I stopped off at Sainsbury's and bought some flowers and chocolates for my wife. The look of pleasure on her face as I handed them to her as I stepped into the house gave me a real sense of pride and happiness! Then I went to bed, alone, and slept until 3pm.

Immediately, I got up, my wife and I drove over to Olney to pick up a mahogany office desk, for our daughter to use for her studying. We brought it home about 5pm, and set it up in the spare bedroom for her.

Next, my wife and I set out to go to a Carvery restaurant for a celebration meal. My wife liked the location of the restaurant, and the quality of the food, and she wants to go back there again, only with all 3 of us next time!

Back home, it was gift giving time. My wife gave me a silver tie clip. I gave my wife a bottle of "Guerlain Idylle" perfume, and we received from our daughter 2 wedding anniversary champagne flutes!

We then sat down with a glass of Baileys each, and watched a movie together. I chose the movie "Along Came Polly", but my wife was not very impressed with the movie. I still haven't quite found the type of romantic film she likes to see, but hopefully, I will get it right through a process of elimination. After all, if I stay alive long enough, I should have the next 40 years or so to work it out!

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I managed to watch all three films over a period of 3 days. Having read the book many years ago, I am pleased that these films are a very accurate rendition of the original book.

It is a shame that another series of books have been completely ruined when brought to life as a TV series. I am a great fan of the author Terry Goodkind, and his Sword of Truth series.

When I heard that Sam Raimi had persuaded Terry to allow him to create a TV series of the books, I had high hopes that he would follow the books closely, the way that Peter Jackson did with the Lord Of The Rings, or the Harry Potter films.


Unfortunately, Disney and the ABC Studios offered a deal that was too good to miss, and Sam lost overall control of the way the series would be made.

Because the American writers get bonuses for original work, and not for transcribing the original storyline, they have to change the story to get their pay. Consequently, all the sub plots, and the events that drove Terry Goodkind's first book "Wizards First Rule" at the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens next, was completely destroyed by the screenwriters.


Now all that is left is the names of the characters, and very little else. I hope that one day, someone else will faithfully reproduce Terry's story as it should have been made, and Disney's fiasco will disappear, the way the first attempt at Lord Of The Rings did back in 1978.

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I don't often sit down and watch a thriller, but this one was quite interesting. I just found it a bit hard to accept Michael Douglas getting the better of Sean Bean!

One amusing aspect of this film was Michael was driving around New york in the same type of vehicle as I own - a Landrover Discovery!! Albeit a different colour, newer model, steering wheel on the wrong side, etc....

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I've watched this film about half a dozen times already, but I still like it. I first saw it on TV, and ended up buying the DVD!

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Watchmen was a weird film. Not the sort of film I would usually see. I found the story difficult to follow as it kept jumping backwards and forwards in time.

Twilight was much better. A slightly different perspective on the Vampire tale. I have a distinct feeling that the way this film ends, there are plans to make a sequel.

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A light hearted chick flick starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.

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If you have strong religious beliefs, then you don't want to watch this! I had a smile on my face as I watched this, and even had a few chuckles. I got a bit confused by some of positions the different characters had, such as "Scion" and a "Muse". As I am not very religious, they probably have some significance to more religious minded people.

The only thing I found spoilt the humour for me, was the amount of swearing used. Although, in a way, it was deliberately used as part of the humour of the film, it was not used effectively. There was almost a "Monty Pythonesque" feel to the film.

I am glad I picked this film up from the budget DVD collection at Tesco's. It was my daughter Anastasia who pointed it out to me and suggested I should buy it!

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This was definitely a weird film. Very dark and depressing. "The end of the world is nigh!" type of film. There is no hope left for us mortals!

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Had a chance to see this movie, and I was quite impressed with the overall effect. I did find the time travel theme just a little bit hard to swallow though. A bit surprised that there was a relationship between Spock and Uhura, which was something new to the franchise. This is one movie that will definitely end up in my DVD collection at some point.

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Interesting film, as it certainly made me more aware of the exploitation of Africa's riches by foreign Nationals, who think nothing of setting up terrorist groups who brutally subjugate the local inhabitants to do whatever they want.

I will certainly be more careful about where a diamond I want to purchase has come from, and how it was obtained!

Today was the first day of my holiday. Although I seem to have had jast as busy a day as if I had gone to work! As the weather was actually fine, I embarked upon sanding down and painting one of the window frames, that has been patiently waiting for my attention since last year!! I actually remembered not to take my shirt off in the sunshine, like I did last year, so only my arms got tanned a bit, instead of my back looking like a lobster fresh out the pot!

I then attempted to cook dinner for the family. Mashed potato, easy. Done it before. Frozen veg, the microwave did what it was supposed to do! It was the smoked haddock that became the challenge for me today. Now normally I would simply put the haddock into the oven and bake it and have chips with it. So instead, I dice the fillets into cubes, finely slice some onions, and place the haddock onto the onions in a pan. Added, milk, crushed pepper, and mustard, and cooked slowly for about 10-15 minutes. Removed the haddock and onions and then added flour and spring onions to the sauce. Thickened up the sauce and poured over the haddock and onions. Finally added some chopped parsley for garnish. All that effort, to make a different dish, and it wasn't all that brilliant. I need to put more Oomph into the sauce next time.

Finally as a treat I sat down and watched this film, which I have seen before, but I still like to watch every now and then.