Jailed for Fiction?

You'd think a crime of fiction would be a bad novel, but no.  Canadian prosecutors threw make up effects artist Rémy Couture in jail and seized his computers and other personal property after seeing his website http://www.innerdepravity.com/.  The site was a fictional serial killer's diary, consisting of--what else?--gory pictures displaying Mr. Couture's talents.  Bottom line?  It was all fake.  It was presented as fiction.  No one was hurt, unless you count the pain and suffering involved in peeling off a latex appliance.  No harm no foul, and yet Couture is facing charges of "Corruption of Morals" and is court ordered to not administer his website.  What century is this, anyway?

A petition drive has sprung up to persuade authorities to drop the charges.  Enraged observers can sign the online petition here.  There is also a Facebook group dedicated to his cause.  All the gory details of Couture's story can be read at what is left of his website, http://www.innerdepravity.com/.  Hopefully he will beat this ridiculous rap and be able to return to corrupting the morals of his audience as soon as possible.  Interested onlookers should also look up what's left of his other site at http://www.remyfx.com/

Jim Morrison to be Pardoned?

Outgoing Florida Governor Charlie Crist is considering granting Jim Morrison a pardon for his two misdemeanor convictions that resulted from an incident of his supposedly showing his lizard king to the crowd at a Miami concert.  Seems like a waste of a Governor's time to me, unless the goal is to mildly irritate republicans.  Read more at the Daily Beast

How to Watch a Movie

Too many of us watch movies as if we were proofreading them.  Not only does this lead to ridiculous--and fruitless--conversations about everything from what a decapitation really looks like to how it really looks when a train explodes, it also robs us of enjoyment.  Especially when this is the main focus.

This is even more ridiculous with the horror or sci-fi crowd.  Countless times I've been watching a movie about ghosts, a vampire, a zombie apocalypse, or some other such nonsense, only to have some Poindexter throw a fit about some pedantic detail like an unrealistic gunshot wound.  Now granted, that may not be what it would really look like if someone suffered a shotgun blast to the face, but come on; you're watching a movie about the dead coming to life.  Realism is relative.

Red Nights

Colin Geddes calls Red East Picture's Red Nights a "bittersweet fortune cookie of murder and deceit," that "inhabits a mysterious realm where Italian giallo and espionage thrillers coexist with the exoticism of the Far East."  Doesn't that sound promising?  And it looks good, too. 
 
I have encountered difficulties in finding out anything about a possible US release, but it appears that Netflix will be offering it soon.