Dear Mr. Gacy

Dear Mr. Gacy

I went through a real serial-killer kick several years ago. Fascinated by the subject and the fact that these monsters had almost celebrity-like status, I read up on a ton of these bad boys and predominantly focussed on the more ‘popular’ killers. (Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, Ed Gein, Albert Fish, and of course – John Wayne Gacy.

One book that proved to be one of the most fascinating reads was Jason Moss’ ‘The Last Victim’. Jason Moss was a college student who became obsessed with notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. He began corresponding with Gacy in 1994, the last year of the killer’s life. Moss eventually met Gacy on Death Row and even narrowly escaped an attack by him.

This book is now coming to our screens as ‘Dear Mr. Gacy’. Prodcued by ‘Monster’ producer Clark Peterson and starring William Forsythe as Gacy, while Jesse Moss, who stars in Paramount’s current release The Uninvited, will play the role of Jason Moss.

“I’m always pretty big into research, particularly a character like Mr. Gacy,” Forsythe says.

Gacy was convicted in 1980 of killing 33 boys and young men, many of whom he buried in the crawlspace under his house. He was executed in 1994, and the movie tells the story of American college student Jason Moss (played by Vancouver actor Jesse Moss), who struck up a correspondence with the killer and eventually visited him in prison.

“It’s important to me to take the walk, to actually go on the journey from childhood, to see and understand what it is that (makes) a person,” says Forsythe. “Sometimes it’s physical. I remember when I played Al Capone (on the TV series The Untouchables) I did the same thing. I found myself going to the place where he grew up and I would take the walk. Suddenly I would discover, wow, halfway beteween here and his school was where all the gangsters hung out. When he was 11 he saw that along the way.

“I did a similar journey here, I got to know quite a few people who knew John from various angles. One gentlemen in particular has been an amazing resource to me, to really understand the other side of John, which apparently was as real as the horrible side. What I discovered was that everyone liked John, he was one of the most personable — he was the life of the party. The gentleman that I got to meet knew him as a child, he was his best friend from the when they were about nine or 10 all the way through. His name was Barry Boschelli, a tremendous help in showing me the other side of John. That makes it even more monstrous in a way.

Director Svetozar Ristovski (Mirage) will make his English-language debut with the feature, directing from a script by Kellie Madison. Gordon Yang is also producing, while Tom Berry and Madison are exec producing.

Living at home with his parents in suburbia, attending college and dating his girlfriend, Jason lives a seemingly normal life. An overachiever, he’s always looking for a challenge and some new way to excel. As part of a school assignment, he sends a carefully crafted letter to John Gacy in prison, portraying himself as a vulnerable kid. Gacy, suspicious at first, puts Moss through harrowing emotional tests via phone and letters, before surrendering his trust to him. What follows is a twisted psychological game of cat and mouse between two master manipulators, in which Jason’s life is turned upside down and Gacy discovers new dimensions within himself. When Gacy invites Jason for a private meeting with him in prison, Jason accepts, but the boy could never have imagined what was about to take place behind the doors of a maximum security prison.

Sadly in 2006 however Moss committed suicide after he had gained a somewhat celebrity status. The book that he wrote was often described as a real life ‘Silence of the Lambs’.

PETA’S Grim Reapers Descend On Alannah Hill

PETA'S Grim Reapers Descend On Alannah Hill

Dressed as the Grim Reaper and holding signs that read, "Alannah Hill: Designer Of Death" members of People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific protested outside the flagship Alannah Hill Boutique in Melbourne this afternoon. The protest follows PETA’s attempts to talk to Hill about her decision to include fur in her designs.

China, where much of Hill’s fur is believed to originate, has no laws to protect animals on fur farms and is now the world’s leading fur exporter. Video footage from PETA’s undercover investigation shows workers who slam foxes and raccoon dogs to the ground before skinning the animals. After the are skinned, some of the animals are shown panting and blinking. Millions of cats and dogs in China are strangled of bled to death for their fur, which is often mislabelled before it is exported, leading consumers to believe that it comes from other species.

"When it comes to terror and death, even the Grim Reaper has nothing on Alannah Hill", says PETA Asia-Pacific’s Ward Young. "With so many fashionable and warm alternatives available, there’s simply no excuse for wearing fur."

Tim Burton’s Wonderland

Tim Burton's 'Wonderland'

You might have gone down the rabbit hole before. But never with a guide quite as attuned to the fantastic as Tim Burton.

Those who have grown curiouser and curiouser about what the offbeat reinventor of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory might conjure up in his version of Alice in Wonderland can feast their eyes on this array of concept art and publicity images, due to hang in movie theaters this week to promote the March 5, 2010, release.

“It has been Burton-ized” is how producer Richard Zanuck describes the director’s vision of the Lewis Carroll classic. Many elements are familiar, from the enigmatic Caterpillar (Alan Rickman) to the fierce Jabberwock (Christopher Lee). But none has been presented in this sort of visually surreal fashion.

“We finished shooting in December after only 40 days,” Zanuck says. Now the live action is being merged with CG animation and motion-capture creatures, and then transferred into 3-D.

The traditional tale has been freshened with a blast of girl power, courtesy of writer Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast). Alice, 17, attends a party at a Victorian estate only to find she is about to be proposed to in front of hundreds of snooty society types. Off she runs, following a white rabbit into a hole and ending up in Wonderland, a place she visited 10 years before yet doesn’t remember.

Among those who welcome her back is the Mad Hatter, a part tailor-made for Johnny Depp as he collaborates with Burton for the seventh time. “This character is off his rocker,” Zanuck says.

Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska, 19, best known for HBO’s In Treatment, has the coveted title role. “There is something real, honest and sincere about her,” Zanuck says. “She’s not a typical Hollywood starlet.”

There is the usual Burton-esque ghoulishness (Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen, whose favorite retort is “Off with their heads,” has a moat filled with bobbing noggins), but Zanuck assures most kids can handle it. “The book itself is pretty dark,” he notes. “This is for little people and people who read it when they were little 50 years ago.”

By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

Continue reading ‘Tim Burton’s Wonderland’

The 69 Eyes Live @ The HiFi Bar, Melbourne Australia

The 69 Eyes Live @ The HiFi Bar, Melbourne Australia

I was in a weird headspace all week and it was a last minute decision to attend tonight’s gig. Still, I didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity of photographing an energetic and dynamically visual international rock act – so I tried to psyche myself, get to the gig and get the job done.

Photographing at the HiFi Bar can be one of two things… easy or difficult. I prefer shooting outside of the (sometimes) designated photo-pit. The pit is incredibly deep and more often than not – all you get is shots looking up the performer’s nose and all sorts of weird angles.

Tonight, the pit wasn’t in use and if you get to the show early enough, there is a really sweet spot on either side of the stage which allows for a fantastic vantage point and good angles to work with.

As stated from the outset, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind tonight and I found myself struggling to “get in the zone” as I like to call it.

“Getting in the zone” is when you and the camera are one. It is a time when you know you have captured the money shot just as you are about to press down on the shutter release. It happens rarely, but when it does… it is an amazing feeling and you know you’ve got gold even before chimping it up through the viewfinder.

Alas, tonight… I wasn’t in tune. Usually out of a shoot of over 400 shots, I usually find 60 – 70 that I feel are worthy of uploading. I could probably cull it down further, but on average that is the quota I usually release to the general populace.

Tonight, even though I shot for the duration of the band’s set – I could only come up with a handful to publish.

Still, it was a fun night and even though I was dodging the push and shove, I did come away with some shots that I thought were pretty good.

There was a great crowd in attendance. Most looking like the band themselves… a gothic-post-apocalyptic blackfest that looked like extras from Tarantino’s ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’. Coulda had some fun just shooting the crowd tonight but I planted myself at what I dub the ‘HiFi Bar Sweet Spot’ and waited for the band to hit the stage.

The 69 Eyes attacked the stage like the preverbal bats-outta-hell. Looking lean, mean and certainly out for the kill as they blasted through a surprisingly catchy hard rocking set of the best Vampiric rock the cold climes of Helsinki could spew forth!

The 69 Eyes Live @ The HiFi Bar, Melbourne Australia

The 69 Eyes Live @ The HiFi Bar, Melbourne Australia

View the complete set at the Visceral Industry.

I Want You!

I Want You!

We’re looking for a few outstanding individuals. You want a piece of this blog to call your own? Here is your chance! Take it! Grab it by the horns and stamp your mark on it. If you wanna do album reviews or gig reviews or books or whatever-da-fuck you want… then talk to me! Shoot me an email and you too can become a senior droog of all things Dogmatic!

C’mon! Join us!

Marilyn Manson To Tour Australia

Marilyn Manson To Tour Australia

I first got to witness Manson back in February of 1997. Pretty much an unknown in Australia but that is still a gig which I have many fond memories of. They’ve toured these shores several times since then and for all the newbie Mansonites, here’s your chance to see them live – albeit a shadow of the greatness they once exuded back in the ‘Antichrist Superstar’ era!

To co-incide with the release of his seventh album ‘The High End of Low’, Manson will return to Australia this October for a run of dates that take in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The tour will see the return of legendary bassist Twiggy Ramirez. Chris Vrenna, Andy Gerold and Ginger Fish will complete the line-up.

Tickets go on sale Friday June 19. Presale starts midday Wednesday June 17, and finishes 5pm Thursday June 18.

  • 5 Oct: Challenge Stadium, WA
  • 7 Oct: Thebarton Theatre, SA
  • 10 Oct: Festival Hall, VIC
  • 14 Oct: Hordern Pavilion, NSW
  • 17 Oct: Brisbane Entertainment Centre,QLD

Morbid Angel Live @ Billboard

Morbid Angel Live @ Billboard

With a stench of marijuana and beer in the air, I met up with my contact at Billboard as I had been requested to shoot some shots of Death Metal legends Mortal Angel half an hour before they were to hit the stage.

I waited at the foot of a stairwell which led to the band’s dressing-room and took in the sights, sounds and smells around me. Scantily clad young lasses tugged at my ‘Media’ pass around my neck and with my camera hanging over my shoulder, I was mistaken for someone in the band’s entourage several times.

“No, I’m not with the band…”

I wonder if I didn’t have that piece of plastic around my neck, would anyone even bother to talk to me?

After waiting around like some groupie fan-boy for half-an-hour, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable so I texted the venue’s manager to see if the backstage shoot was still on. He rushed back up to the band and they had decided they weren’t going to shoot any shots backstage.

By this point in time, with the band about to hit the stage any second, it was going to be incredibly hard for me to squeeze through the crowd to get to the photo-pit. Instead, I was walked through the backstage area, onto the stage which had the curtain drawn.

I could hear the crowd chanting ‘Morbid Angel! Morbid Angel! Morbid Angel!’ over and over. The band had assumed position on-stage and were about to unleash hell. (I shoulda taken a shot right here… but I didn’t think quick enough!)

I was taken to the front of the stage, the curtain drawn slightly so I could jump down into the photo-pit. This was kind of exciting as the crowd cheered loudly when the curtain was drawn but instead of the band… they got me instead! Heh!

I jumped down. Got the gear ready and within seconds, the curtain fell and hell was indeed unleashed!

Again, all I had was three songs and for the duration of those three songs, the band was bathed in that sickly red frontlight which makes taking a decent shot all the more difficult.

Sigh!

Still, there was absolutely nothing I could do about the red lights so I endeavored to take as best a shot as I could under trying conditions.

The stage-divers don’t usually rear their heads and boots till about half-way through a set, but tonight, they were there in earnest – so I tried to dodge them as well.

Morbid Angel Live @ Billboard

Morbid Angel Live @ Billboard

View more here

Ozzy Osbourne Suing Tony Iommi For Black Sabbath Name

Ozzy V Iommi

Lawyers representing Ozzy Osbourne have filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office against the heavy metal icon’s Black Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi, claiming the man responsible for some of the genre’s most memorable riffs illegally assumed sole ownership of the Black Sabbath name.

According to the New York Post, Osbourne’s suit seeks a 50 percent stake in the ‘Black Sabbath’ trademark. Furthermore, the filing claims Osbourne is entitled to a portion of the profits Iommi has generated through use of the band name, and suggests it was Osbourne’s “signature lead vocals” that helped propel the band’s “extraordinary success”. The suit also points out that Sabbath’s popularity took a nosedive during Ozzy’s absence during 1980 and 1996, when former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio took over behind the mike stand.

The suit follows one filed by Iommi in December 2008 against Live Nation. In that filing, Iommi claims the concert giant sold merchandise bearing the band’s logo, despite the 2006 expiration of a merchandising deal, reportedly worth nearly $80 million. Soon after that agreement concluded, Iommi reclaimed the band’s trademark.

Iommi’s suit argues Live Nation continued to sell more than 100 items of merchandise featuring the band’s likeness, name and logo, despite the receipt of cease-and-desist orders from the guitarist’s camp. Iommi’s suit seeks damages in the amount of three times the profits from the merchandise sales, plus a halt to the Black Sabbath product sales.

In a recent interview with Decibel magazine, both Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler said that working with Dio was actually much easier than working with Ozzy. “Ronnie’s a songwriter in his own right — he’s got tons of ideas”, Butler said. “Whereas Ozzy … in the old days, he’d come up with a vocal line and I’d write the lyrics. Ronnie is 100 percent involved in both the musical side and the vocal side, and he writes his own lyrics as well”.

Continue reading ‘Ozzy Osbourne Suing Tony Iommi For Black Sabbath Name’

Triptych (τρίπτυχο)

Triptych (τρίπτυχο)

Continuing on from yesterday’s urban-social experiment.

Went to the same spot as yesterday but found today’s shots weren’t as spontaneous and fresh as yesterday’s. Fired off about 20 shots… there was only three I was really pleased with.

And here, the three have become one…

Through The Eye Of A Needle

Chapel Street Prahran

On my lunch-break this afternoon, I was walking though Chapel Street with camera in tow, desperately looking for a ’shot’… some sort of shot. I have felt so creatively dry of late but I was still trying to frame imaginary shots in my head as I walked up Chapel Street towards High Street. I noticed a narrow pathway leading back towards an alley. I walked down the pathway, turned back around and saw all the everyday people walking past doing whatever they do in their everyday lives. Oblivious to me. Oblivious to the camera.

I thought I would try and capture them.

Here are the results…

Continue reading ‘Through The Eye Of A Needle’

The 69 Eyes Australian Tour

The 69 Eyes Australian Tour

Lock up your daughters! Lock up your wives… lock up anything and everything that moves… The 69 Eyes are about to turn Australia to mush!

After a massive petition by the band’s adoring Aussie fan club, demand was so high that it made it impossible to stop one of Europe’s hottest Goth Rock bands from spreading their wings and flying to Australia! Playing hits from their stellar six-album career and tracks from their up-coming new album, The 69 Eyes are set to scorch the stage and possess the souls of Australia’s ghouls and goblins!

Dogmatic will be at the Melbourne show and we’ll report back with a ton of photos and news from the gig.

Seriously guys, this is gonna be a classic performance from a band renowned for taking no prisoners! See you there!

Thursday June 18:
Melbourne: The Hifi Bar

Friday June 19:
Brisbane: The Hifi Bar

Saturday June 20:
Sydney: The Hifi Bar

Formed in Helsinki’s rock clubs back in the early 90s, the five-piece take their influences from far and wide. Elvis Presley, The Misfits, Guns ‘n’ Roses and a hefty dose of The Sisters of Mercy can all be heard throughout their music. From comic books to cult movies, The 69 Eyes capture the rock ‘n’ roll zeitgeist and turn it into the sort of music that makes you want to party. Hard. The 69 Eyes’ formative years scream sex, blood and loud music as they played their way through Helsinki’s underground glam clubs, leaving a trail of broken bottles and women behind them. They were soon snapped up by Finnish underground label Gaga Goodies and released four albums –‘Bump And Grind’, ‘Savage Garden’, ‘Motor City Resurrection’ and ‘Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams.’

Continue reading ‘The 69 Eyes Australian Tour’

Marilyn Manson – The High End Of Low

Marilyn Manson - The High End Of Low

After the sheer and utter crap that was Marilyn Manson’s last effort, ‘Eat Me, Drink Me’ – I had all but given up on ever getting to hear anything decent from the Manson camp again.

When word filtered out that he was back together again with sidekick Twiggy Ramirez/Jeordie White who had been in Nine Inch Nails for the past few years – my curiosity was piqued enough that I wanted to see what the end result would be. Hearing a couple of the leaked tracks such as ‘We’re From America’ et al, I was once again, feeling genuinely excited about a new Marilyn Manson album again.

Boy, were my expectations shot to hell when I actually got to listen to this thing.

It’s such a plodder of monumental dross proportions. A bore of an album that becomes painful to sit through as you try and cling to some sort of highlight… some sort of spark to maintain any sort of interest.

It starts off well enough. ‘Devour’ kicks things off nicely but just as the song starts to get really interesting and dare I say it, catchy. it all ends in a sudden stop and pours itself into follow up track ‘Pretty As A ($)’. Again, a decent track and better than anything he’s had on offer for a while.

And then… it all get so stupid and as already stated… dull. Painfully dull!

I wanted to like this album so much. I was so eagerly awaiting its release and had extreme faith that ole Marilyn could pull one more classic from his hat… instead, he pulled out a boring, pretentious turd from his ass. (Seriously, go listen to the track ‘WOW’ and tell me with a straight face that its a decent track!)

Sucks!

Marilyn Manson - The High End Of Low

David Lynch’s Interview Project

David Lynch's Interview Project

So apparently David Lynch went on a 20,000 mile road trip throughout the United States and did a bunch of interviews with random strangers. Kinda like This American Life, but without the dulcet tones of Ira Glass to contextualize the rambling storytelling of everyday folk, and with explicitly Lynchian aesthetics thrown in for good measure. In the first clip from this 121-part series, note the conspicuous presence of a white picket fence and the droning refrain of shunting boxcars in the background. All we need is a dwarf and a backwards-talking blonde to make this real-life tale of one man’s triumph over cancer into a searing Inland Empire-esque nightmare.

Check out the Interview Project website for the official trailer.

Continue reading ‘David Lynch’s Interview Project’

Wreckage Of My Past: The Story Of Ozzy Osbourne

Wreckage Of My Past: The Story Of Ozzy Osbourne

‘Wreckage Of My Past’ is a new film documenting the life of music icon Ozzy Osbourne as he approaches his 60th birthday. Newly sober, Ozzy has finally reached a point of clarity as he looks back on a lifetime of unresolved issues, unparalleled success, misdiagnosed diseases, severed ties, and a recurring dependency on drugs and alcohol.

The documentary is being produced by Jack and Sharon Osbourne and promises to be a documentary that’s a no-punches-pulled account of the life of the former Black Sabbath frontman.

Check out the trailer after the jump:

Continue reading ‘Wreckage Of My Past: The Story Of Ozzy Osbourne’

Coop’s First Exhibition Of New Paintings In 3 Years

Coop's First Exhibition Of New Paintings In 3 Years

Corey Helford Gallery is proud to present the highly-anticipated solo exhibition of new works by celebrated Pop-artist Coop. Since 2006, Los Angeles has been on the waiting list for Coop’s next explosion of larger-than-life pop iconography, and his upcoming solo show of irreverent and outrageous fi ne art is built for speed. Bold and brazen does not begin to describe the parade of leering devils, voluptuous vixens, and hell-bound hot rods that dominate his electric acrylic-on-canvas paintings. Considered one of the pioneers of the Contemporary New Fine Art movement, Coop steps out from his arsenal of sin to unveil the next phase in his evolving creations of neo-Pop imagery. The reception is open to the public, and will take place on Friday, May 29 from 7 to 10pm. The show will be on view until June 20, 2009.

Born in Bixby, Oklahoma, Chris Cooper, AKA Coop, began his art career at the tender age of two, with crayons in hand. Shortly after the ink was dry on his high school diploma, he left his home state for Los Angeles where he landed his first solo exhibition in 1993 at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. Since then, Coop has been steadily taking over the art world, exhibition after exhibition, and his paintings have been showcased around the world from Merry Karnowsky in Los Angeles, Deitch Projects in New York and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston to galleries in Zurich and Milan.

Inspired by hot rodding, car culture, B-movie monsters, sexploitation fl icks and the world of fetish, Coop parleyed his artistic talent into a merchandising empire, creating custom collections of fi ne art prints, rock and roll posters, artist-series apparel, lifestyle accessories, skateboards and toys. Coop released The Devil’s Advocate, a full-color coffee table book, which was an immediate sellout and is currently in its fourth printing.

Following the success of his first release, Coop’s second book, The Big Fat One is a 1008-page sketchbook and was published in October, 2002.

Coop’s commissioned work is equally as spectacular. He has produced over 100 posters, including rock posters for Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Sex Pistols and album cover art for notable bands such as Mono Men, Lords of Acid, Ramones and NOFX. Altoids commissioned him to create promotional artwork for its wildly successful cinnamon fl avored mints, and MTV featured the artist’s imagery on its The Return of Rock compilations. Coop’s commercial talent extends to a multitude of creative projects, including a series of limited-edition gambling chips and a customized Escalade for the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, as well as directing music videos and designing major ad campaigns for various clients. Numerous publications have featured Coop, including ArtWeek, Paper and Juxtapoz magazine, which notes Coop’s name is “now more recognizable to modern youth than that of Rembrandt.” For more information about the artist, please visit www.coopstuff.com.

Located in the Culver City Art District, Corey Helford Gallery was established in April 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer and creator, Bruce Helford (The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez, The Oblongs). Passionate art collectors, the Helfords are producers on the art documentary The Treasures of Long Gone John and have partnered to open their fi rst gallery. Corey Helford Gallery presents a wide range of artists, from members of the new fine art movement, such as Gary Baseman, Andrew Brandou, Coop, Natalia Fabia, Korin Faught, Sylvia Ji, Eric Joyner, and award-winning photographer Chris Anthony, to early Modernist William S. Schwartz. Notable shows include “Charity By Numbers”, which was co-curated by Gary Baseman and featured an unprecedented lineup of artists including Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Shepard Fairey, Todd and Kathy Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, and Michael Hussar. Corey Helford Gallery presents new exhibitions approximately every four weeks. For more information and an upcoming exhibition schedule, please visit coreyhelfordgallery.com.

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