Straightblog

gobbets of first outline

Thanks for the feedback from the US. Anyone else over in the States notice any promotional material for the DVD release? And what's Haven? Sounds mysterious and cultish... Maybe I should join? Someone sent me the sleeves collage, sorry if I've misappropriated someone's handiwork.

Anyway, here are the first and last paragraphs of the original Straightheads outline, which I wrote in November 1999. The Alice and Adam characters were originally named Zoe and Norm. Stas was the original "Sophie" i.e. Heffer's daughter. The purpose of the petrol bath was to remove all traces of gunpowder residue from Zoe's body, as she has shot the Heffer character dead in the final act, after luring him with the promise of sex, then blindfolding him...

"Norm and Zoe are educated, ambitious young people, largely oblivious to anything outside the tiny, brightly-lit, secure capsule which some of us are privileged enough to call “normality”. In underworld parlance, Norm and Zoe are “straightheads”."

"Zoe takes a petrol bath. Stas watches through the crack in the door, then walks in holding a flaming Zippo lighter. She steps into the petrol bath, still holding the lighter.
Stas and Zoe begin to cry. They cry and hug and hold each other until the Zippo flame in Stas’s hand burns out."

As you'll know if you've watched Straightheads / Closure, the end turned out very differently...

Figures, dates, covers

It's great to hear back, I wasn't sure if anyone still checked out the site!

Just to warm up then, I caught some gross DVD rental figures on the Rotten Tomatoes site, quoting an industry market report site, according to which Closure grossed $2,070,000 after 19 days in the top 50 chart in the United States. The site suggested that adding 60% to this figure would provide a good estimate for total gross rental earnings, so that would be just over $3.3m for US alone! I'm not sure how much of that revenue trickles back into the studio's coffers but Sony Pictures bought the movie for North America and the World (exc UK and a couple of smaller territories) for a lot less than that so it looks like a pretty shrewd acquisition on their part, particularly as to my knowledge there was no advertising or publicity (anybody in USA remember seeing posters or ads??). Who knows, I may see my deferrals in 250 years! The Straightheads DVD has sold and rented impressively here in UK, it was in the Blockbuster top 10 for  a while and UK distributors Verve are well pleased. Did anyone catch it on Sky Box Office? Or rent it in Australia?

Some release dates for you:

France - 9/4/08
S. Korea - 1/5/08
Germany - 18/3/08
Italy - 30/1/08

and some covers:

Future of Straightblog?

Well hello, it's been ages. Now that Straightheads / Closure is out in the world doing its own thing, and we're coming up to a year from the UK launch, I'm wondering whether to keep Straightblog going. Maybe now that the production is well behind me I can be a little more candid about the process of making the movie, and the rather fraught passage from script to screen, via the rewrites by UK TV writer Bryan Elsley... Dunno, it's up to you people out there, the readers. What do you think?

Straightheads at Blockbuster today

In case you didn't know, today is the launch day for Straightheads at Blockbuster. They've got an exclusive on the disc (barebones-no extras version I believe) for a while, not sure how long... I'm also told HMV will have some kind of special sleeve on their discs when they come up for sale on 24th Sept, haven't seen it though. Here's the US DVD cover for Closure: 

Also take a look at this: Swedish DVD cover.

Straightheads / Closure on DVD

As far as I know Blockbuster in the UK will have the Straightheads discs before anyone else - 18th August I think, don't quote me though. The US and Canada release (as "Closure") is next, on Sept 18th - but be warned this is a barebones edition, with no extras whatsoever. If you want the full deal, you'll have to wait till the UK release of Straightheads a week later by Verve Pictures, which has a commentary by Gillian, Danny and me, plus deleted scenes (also with comm), interviews with the three of us (separately this time!) and some behind-the-scenes footage. I'm looking forward to a lot more people here and in North America being able to get their hands on my film... Gotta go and make breakfast, I'm casting all today and tomorrow. Actors make me hungry.

Scarce

Sorry not to have posted for a while - I've been hard at work on City of Vice, a tiny but mightily well-formed 5-part period drama for Channel Four here in UK. I'm directing parts 3 and 4 - an hour each, great cast, cracking scripts by up-and-coming writers, great costumes and production design and all on the slimmest, thinnest, ropiest shoe-string. The stories all centre on Henry Fielding, the English novelist, who happened (in addition to his literary efforts) to be the uber-cop of 18th-century London... and his small band of cops-in-wigs, the Bow Street Runners. The Fielding brothers are played by Ian MacDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine for you Star Wars obsessives out there, and a  host of great credits besides), Iain Glen (another great British actor who famously partnered Nicole Kidman on stage in The Blue Room), Nigel Harman (does a brilliant turn as the gay lover of an 18th-century cop) and gary Lewis (dad in Billy Elliot - and a searing, intense performance in ep 4 for City of Vice) plus Rosa Hoskins (daughter of..) making a beautifully-judged debut as Gary's daughter. Otherwise there have been a good few scripts from USA, I've closed a deal for a new movie (currently casting) and am in negotiations on a couple (well, three) more... but can't give details at this point and showbiz being showbiz you're never quite sure what's round the next corner and what "next month" actually means...
So anyway I had coffee with the indomitable Julia Short today (you remember her?) and she tells me the Straightheads DVD is out before the end of Sept. There will be a good few extras, deleted scenes, comm by Danny, Gillian and me, B-roll of the shoot and some interview clips again with the three of us -  a great package and enough to keep the most dedicated of you busy for a couple of hours. Sony are releasing the DVD sometime AFTER the UK release, with different cover art and I don't yet know whether they will include the same extras, so watch this space. We've got no news of specifics from Sony at this point.
But I have to say I'm looking forward to Straightheads, or should I say Closure, entering American airspace, and the ensuing reactions...

Sony Pics new title + US DVD release

Back in London now after my shoot and I can tell you the following: Sony Pictures plan to release "Closure" before the end of the year (probably October?), on DVD. There won't be a theatrical in the US. And yes, you did read correctly, Straightheads is being re-titled "Closure". Actually it's growing on me, I like it as an alternative title. I'd had wind of the intention to change the title for a while, and had been fearing the worst. When I read the email from Sony I have to say I was relieved. The UK release (as "Straightheads") is also scheduled for October, I believe - but Verve have yet to confirm precise dates. That's all for now folks. Oh, and I've been accepted another movie offer. More anon. Stay tuned! xx

a first-rate cult thriller...

...fascinating, gripping, impressively dark, stylish, intriguing, seductive, original , arresting, powerful, gritty, sure-fire killer thriller, brave, pro-feminist, terrific little film, thoughtful, riveting, "hits you in the way that, sometimes, cinema should"...

"I don’t think I’ve ever written a more glowing report for a low-budget British horror film" (wrote James Christopher in The Times) "it's been a long time since someone was brave enough to make such a movie" (Daily Mirror) - thought I'd throw some of the nicer press quotes in, just to give you some perspective, if you needed it, on the "rabid nonsense" tendency (see below!)

So... the press came out very much as expected (i.e. deeply divided), but with some key reviews in praise of the film (Variety was the crucial one - the movie business trade mag). So anyway, my US agents have had quite a few scripts come in for me and offers have been made - but I won't say much more yet on that count, I don't want to put the jinx on it. Straightheads box-office wasn't gigantic, and my prayers for rain were answered with the hottest, sunniest April weekend in Britain's recorded history (since 1659 - literally). Then last weekend we were bigfooted by Spiderman 3, which annihilated all before it... The DVD launch, however, looks most promising, according to the sellers who came to a Verve special screening last week, so who knows? My gut feeling is that Straightheads will continue to sell on disc for many years, and create a little niche for itself. What's next for me? Well, I need to keep working, and I've been busy on a new project since March -  a couple of small period dramas for Channel Four, and shooting begins tomorrow - so I won't be posting much for the next month. No doubt I'll catch up with Gillian and Danny soon (he's just had a baby daughter, by the way) to talk about old times! Take care all of you, do skorovo, and keep well.

just because you haven't heard...

...from me for a couple of weeks doesn't mean I don't care! I'm filming another project from next week and the last couple of weeks of prep before a shoot are always a little hectic. So when I've had some sleep at the weekend I'll post an update. Till then - thanks for all your posts, the response has been fantastic, and it's great to have such detailed comments, both positive and negative - bring 'em on!

rabid nonsense...

... hideous, ugly, repellent, wrong, stomach-churning, vomit-inducing, gruesome, abysmal, twisted, lurid,  nasty-brutish-and-depressing, nasty-and-nonsensical, nasty-vindictive-and-violent, nasty-brutish-and-short, unhinged, dangerous, foul and violent, brutal, raw and uncomfortable, deeply unnecessary, disturbing, unsavoury, objectionable, grubby, shocking, uncommonly brutal, exploitative and depressing, torrid, stupifying (sic), grisly, violent and unsettling...

I think we hit a nerve.

Those were all quotes by the way, a selection from the gusher of apoplectic reviews for Straightheads here in the UK.

Actually there have been more considered ones too, notably James Christopher's in the Times here in the UK, Derek Malcolm in the Evening Standard, Variety magazine, the Daily Mirror, Sight and Sound and a good handful of others which gainsay the splutterings of the frazzled majority.

The Independent went as far as accusing me of having a borderline personality disorder, and the usually articulate Guardian, after a short, coruscating paragraph, ended its review with a strangled cry of "Wrong!". I have to admit I actually burst out laughing when I read these, so the guy from the Independent might have a point after all!                                                               

Well, today's the day. To the those of you who've been following this blog from the beginning, it's been exactly a year since my first post.

Thank you all so much for your support, and for your kind and warm comments. You've made the long months of waiting for the release a lot more interesting for me, and I truly appreciate the time you've taken to be part of this blog with me.

Now, if you're in the UK and you've nothing better to do this weekend, why not go and catch Straightheads and let me know what YOU think?