I rarely go off topic here, but this is much too cool for me not to mention.
My brother’s band, squint, has been toiling away for years and are finally experiencing some well-deserved success. They recently released their third album, Goodnight, Bad Intentions
In addition, their song “Quite” has recently been selected as the theme song for The Savage Tales of Summer Vale, a TV series sequel to the Canadian horror-comedy film Dark Rising.
Now I don’t know a thing about Dark Rising, but it looks like good, trashy fun. I hope to track down a DVD soon. The show looks fun as well–like a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Cleopatra 2525. I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to see it in America, but I’m hopeful.
The song selected is “Quite,” from squint’s second album, Tinsel Life
And now it’s the theme to a TV show, partially thanks to my unerring judgment and constant badgering. (A&R job offers welcome.)
You can hear the full song at squint’s website by clicking the music link.
And if any of you Canadians can drop me some knowledge about Dark Rising, please do.
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Dead pleased for your brother and for you, Trent. It’s always nice to hear of good things happening to good people.
Thanks, Nick!
I like to think that all of the B (and lower) grade horror and SF films I forced him to watch when we were much younger permeated his subconscious, causing him to eventually write a song that was a perfect fit for a show like this.
Today, Canada, tomorrow the world!
Congrats! That’s pretty exciting news. I’m Canadian but I’ve never heard of Dark Rising. I feel lame now, as this really should have crossed my path. The trailer looks extremely derivative (which can be a problem with some of our more mainstream products), but it sounds like it might have a side that doesn’t it take itself too seriously that could be redeeming. In any case, it’s a great step for a band so I’m happy for you and your bro!
Thanks, Master P! Let me know if it does cross your path.
It’s a pity the Sci-Fi network has decided that they are no longer interested in science fiction. One of the main reasons to watch the channel back in the day was to see hot babes doing battle. This show would have been perfect for them.
The show is supposed to debut January 31 on something called Super Channel 2.
I remember seeing a movie of this title on the super channel a while back, found it quite boring and very poorly acted. I would never even call the first film a B film, it was far below that standard & that would be an insult to the great B film industry! I can’t suspect that the series would be any better, yet who knows. It’s likely very very low budget, so if it has bad acting, bad directing, bad writing , bad effects, etc.. then that would be the expectation. I guess that’s what happens when you get C & D & F grade actors who can’t get better acting roles.
Thanks for the first hand report! Sorry, but not shocked, to hear that. Wonder why it was popular enough to launch a TV series and a movie sequel? A friend located a copy of the movie, so I’ll try to figure that out sometime next week.
Here’s hoping practice makes perfect, and the show and sequel are better!
Well Trent, the likely scenario is that it may rely heavily on gov’t funding, thus if the actors get little to no payment, then some revenue can be generated. It will get some money when played on the Super Channel, not much, yet it will satisfies Canadian content rules. Normally when that happens the product is quite sub standard, this type of show is a good example of poor quality production, not surprising based on their budget. None of these actors are realistically good enough to get lead roles in well funded Canadian or US TV or Movies, so that’s what you get. Take the lead actress for example Brigitte Kingsley yeah she has a look to her, but as an actress she fails on many levels, vocal delivery and otherwise, and is far far from being a good versatile actress, if she was good she would have been in higher budget projects. The other female actress’s in the movie also are only average. The two main guys were ok, the writing was amateur and the sets were honestly terrible. Overall it lacked something. Maybe the followups are better? Who knows, however I wouldn’t count on it.
Ah, yes. Hadn’t thought about that. I grew up next to Canada so I’m familiar with the CanCon laws. They’re what caused the Tragically Hip to be inflicted on those of us in the border states.
It’s clear they’ve upped the SFX budget from the first outing. We’ll see if the additional attention translates to better acting and writing. I’m just hoping it’s popular enough to warrant a Canadian tour by the band and give them a chance to build a fanbase up there. They’ve put out a number of damn good songs over the years, and more people should get the opportunity to hear those songs.
Well, I saw the movie the show is spun off from, and actually enjoyed it. Not in an “I’d recommend this!” sort of way, but in a “I had a good time hanging out with my friends and not taking it seriously” sort of way. Some of the humor was unintentional, but I was caught by surprise by some pretty funny intentional moments. It started out awful but got better as it went along. A decent time waster. Fingers crossed for the show to gain a following.
Well Trent, you are then in the minority:) If the film was any good it would be been released in theaters not the bargain $1 bin, which is where I saw it a few times. I guess it’s a good attempt at a very amateur level, but that’s all it is. The storyline was very poorly done. Very bad story development. Whoever wrote it should be embarrassed for this script would have easily been thrown in the garbage had any hollywood investors been able to read it. I hope they have a different writer for the further sequels.
hi, I happen to know the actors in it, and have met the director and producer- It may not be a blockbuster, but if you look at what genre the first movie is- it’s a comedy – they did a pretty good job. yeah, they did make the movie on a small budget, but you also have to realize that you don’t need to have tons of money and cg to make a movie. I think that trent is completely right- and if you get the chance to hear the dvd commentary, it can make the movie even funnier.
Hey man, I figured I’d let you know that I was actually a part of the tv show and that it’s a pretty good ride. It’s light hearted, fun and kind of goofy. The first movie was rough, but the series and the sequel should be better. If nothing else, you can certainly see how much the director has grown.
The show’s not out in the States yet, but should be coming soon enough.
Absolutely loved the first film. For a B-movie I thought it was really well acted (especially Landy Cannon). I actually met the cast and director at Fan Expo last year and it was one of my best experiences there. The dvd for the second movie came out yesterday (I bought mine at Wal-Mart for 13$) and I literally just finished watching it, and I got to say it exceeded my expectations. Sure the budget on these films may not be the best but I still REALLY love these movies and this universe. I hope they release the show on dvd soon because I want to watch it.
Doug:
One of my brother’s songs is in the sequel! It’s called “Shadow Shadow.” I’m hoping to watch it sometime in the next week or two.