Thisfunktional Magazine Issue 08 A

Thisfunktional Issue 08 August 05, 2014 ISSN 2334-346X

Robert Rodriguez:

A Rebel with a mission, a franchise with unique style

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This issue has actually two covers because it was difficult to decide on just one. The content of each is the same but the cover is different.

The first cover is for “Sin City: A Dame to Kill for” as it is made by the rebel without a crew Robert Rodriguez and has many talented people who worked on it, from the great storyteller and animator Frank Miller to the various fantastic actors who have made the characters of “Sin City” seductive.

The story continues with more characters being brought forth and stronger stories being introduced.

The new film is set to come out in theaters August 22.

The second cover goes to an inspirational film that has been 18 years in the making. “The Giver” has

been a project that actor and producer Jeff Bridges has been passionate about.

The project was something Bridges was passionate about making. He was adamant in seeing this project made right.

Its a story which makes a comment on the human condition and just what makes people human.

The subject matter inspires thought and brings about a new sense of looking at the emotions that bring about the morals that keep society running smoothly.

The inspirational film has a fantastic cast and crew that all gave the impression to be proud of being involved with such a project.

“The Giver” comes out in theaters on August 15.

It’s a good movie for the whole family.

Jesus

Figueroa

Editor-in-Chief of

Thisfunktional ADMIRATION- Anima É Cuore

Studios Artist Laura Dickenson’s 2012 Challenge work sketch with light color, drawn with drawing pencils and made to look fierce.

(Drawing courtesy of Anima É Cuore)

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Table of Contents

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Page 3 - Artist Appreciation: Diego Perrone Written by Eli Kay Page 10 - Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias Written by Jesus Figueria Page 11 - Sin City Written by Jesus Figueroa Page 14 - The Giver Written by Jesus Figueroa Page 17 - Mike’s Movie Mayhem Written by Mike ‘The Movie guy’ Pierce Page 20 - Thisfunktional Reviews Written by Jesus Figueroa Page 21 - Thisfunktional Foodie Written by Jesus Figueroa Page 22 - Thisfunktional Playlist Written by Jesus Figueroa Page 23 - Staying in is the new going out Written by Eli Kay Page 24 - Haunted hotels of Europe Written by Eli Kay Page 26 - ‘Constantine’ pilot review Written by Eli Kay

Staff

Editor-in-Chief Jesus Figueroa Assistant Layout Designer Lindsey Maeda Writers Eli Kay Columnist Mike ‘The Movie Guy’ Pierce Chef-Writer Kathryn Lang

Diego

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Eli Kay

Singer, songwriter, g

Writer Diego Perrone is an Italian singer, songwriter and guitarist.

He was the frontman of the punk rock band, Medusa and in the recent years he has established himself as a solo artist with the album entitled “Dove finisce il colore delle fotografie lasciate al sole.” The 2013 EP called “Io e Silvano” which contained five singles.

Even though he is a great solo singer/songwriter, Perrone is more known as the second voice of the famous hip hop artist from Apulia, Caparezza.

I’ve been following Diego Perrone’s career since 2009 and I thought it was about time he got the spotlight for himself. I had the chance to speak to him about his career, his thoughts and his personal life.

Eli: Can you tell me a bit about why you wanted to become an artist and how you started in the music business?

Perrone: Since I was a kid I used to be interested in music, singing in particular.

I created my first band when I was 15 years old and after we

made a demo tape. We sent it to every label we could find.

When I finally joined Medusa, and we started making music a bit more seriously, we got in contact with bigger labels and we finally signed with the major label, EMI. Eli: Which artists were your inspirations?

Perrone: Too many, Syd Barrett and Mike Patton above all.

Eli: Nice! I would guess that your first love is music. Do you have any other great loves?

Perrone: Of course! Cooking, drawing and having fun.

Eli: You like cooking, What is your favourite food?

Perrone: My experience in a Thai restaurant as cook’s assistant have taught me how to make Thai dishes so I love that, but I also love to experiment with different kinds of food Eli: That is a very interesting side of you! Back to music now, talk to me about your solo album and EP, I listened to both and loved them, how was the change

fro P tha bet and alo ins tha bec E the how it wh tha arti P ind we pro any adm ay E imp of you P que I’ll bet as a

o Perrone:

guitarist gets the spotlight

om Medusa to the solo career?

Perrone: You are so kind to say at. For me, the only difference tween my band experience d my solo career is that I am one and I use more electronic struments to play live. I feel at my song writing is the same, cause it is.

Eli: How about your fans from e Medusa days? In general, w difficult or easy do you think is for a European musician ho hasn’t got the resources at American and International ists have?

Perrone: Working in the music dustry is not at all easy in Italy, e don’t have governmental otection and there are not y young people that lead the ministration, I mean there isn’t young point of view.

Eli: I’ve heard that it is almost possible to make a living out being a musician. Where do u see yourself in 10 years?

Perrone: That is a hard estion. I don’t know where l be but I hope to be getting tter and better as a person and an artist.

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Fluffy continues on being a positive latino role model Jesus Figueroa

Writer From a humble upbringing to his own stand-up concert movie, comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias contines to make people laugh with inspiring stories.

The topics of drug abuse and violence are avoided but still plenty of comedy is heard that makes Iglesias such a great person and a comedian for the entire family..

“It’s surreal, but at the same time I know I worked very hard to be here. There’s a lot of pressure, not only from being a comedian but from the Latin perspective. I know there’s going to be some people coming after me, ‘you better not mess this up gordo.’

A lot of pressure, but I know I’m representing in a positive way. I’m not concerned in coming across the wrong way,” Iglesias said.

Through the struggles and the hardships Iglesias continues to be as much a positive rolemodel as he can possibly be.

As a stepfather, a public figure and a latino who has worked hard to get to where he is at, he continues to try and be a force for good. (read more at thisfunktional.com)

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Sin City: Finds a place amo Jesus Figueroa

Writer

The dark and grimy world of Frank Miller’s “Sin City” came in a film noir style to the big screen truly capturing a graphic novel feel.

Revolutionary filmmaker l, the rebel without a crew, Robert Rodriguez found a mixture of storytelling and visual effects which captured audiences’ attention in 2005.

“The first film, I liked what we could do with green screen, digital and Frank

(Miller)’s book and I thought ‘okay maybe we won’t go as far as the book’ because it may just be too bizarre for audiences.

We went and did a half step between the graphic novel and the movie,” Rodriguez said. “People really loved the feel and thought it was very original and great treatment of it. So, this time we went ahead and pushed it further towards the book, especially ‘A Dame to Kill for,’ he (Miller) is more abstract in his drawings, in his graphic approach to it, it’s just eye popping. I thought if they liked that, let’s go all the way. When people ask how did we

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ong the tormented, demented update the look, it wasn’t really to make it different from the first one, it was to make it closer to the source material than before.

Then doing it in 3D because I (Rodriguez) thought it would lend so much better to a graphic novel because of an absence of information. A lot of 3D movies have so much on the screen you really don’t know where to look, but because his (Miller) style is so stripped down and there’s so much black and there’s just the actor and a few set pieces and maybe snow, everything would pop a lot more,” he said.

With the success of the first film, a sequel

was bound to come out.

But, the unexpected charisma of Nancy Calligahn, played by Jessica Alba, and the connection between her and John Hartigan, played by Bruce Willis, sparked a reimagining in the manner her character would progress in the next chapter.

“In the first film she starts off as a little girl. She’s a victim, she was kidnapped and later she was tortured and she gets saved

by Bruce Willis’ character Hartigan. But then in this one, it picks up after he kills himself. So it’s like, the love of her life is gone, she’s devastated, she’s an alcoholic.

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She’s still dancing, she’s not happy about it, she has costumes now. It was cool being able to take someone from this sweet, innocent, naive victim to this very powerful warrior, that takes her life in her own hands and gets revenge,” Alba said.

“The original working title for Jessica’s (Alba) story was ‘Nancy’s last dance’ because she had been the abuse victim, she had gone through the ringer and she ended up as many women in her situation do, which is an exotic dancer. This time she turns into something else, I already got her next chapter planned,” Miller said.

“Sin City: A Dame to kill for” was born and with it came a new story, the books had been out but the story needed adapting.

Miller was not looking to write a graphic novel which would be turned into a film, but Rodriguez found a way to work together with Miller to adequately bring the story to the big screen.

“When I first decided I wanted to do comic books I was all of six years old. I decided I would that for the rest of my life. What happens was, I grew up on Superboy comics and Spider-man and that sort of thing. After a while, it started seeming kind of do’em all to me. I lost interest,” Miller said. “But, I kept drawing. Meanwhile what I was reading was things like Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler and so it was two loves merged into doing crime comics, which I thought it was natural, would go big, move to New York, was told ‘go back home, we don’t need you, go pump gas. You’re from Vermont we got no use for you. You’re not drawing guys in tights.’

So I had to learn how to draw guys in tights.

I put them in as many crime situations as I could. After working comics and gaining some notoriety, and then working in Hollywood, I sat down and I decided I would just please myself and I would make the one comic book that could not possibly be made into a movie, it ended up being ‘Sin City.’ Then this guy (Rodriguez) shows up,” he said.

More on the “Sin City” press day on thisfunktional.com

The Giver’s 18 year journey: Coming to the big screen after finding the right fit, right cast Jesus Figueroa

Writer

The world of black and white, no pain and no emotions comes crashing down as a young man starts to see the colors and possibilities of the world in new film “The Giver.”

During the Los Angeles Press day on August 2 in Beverly Hills, California the cast and crew of the film discussed the 18year long process of bringing the film to the big screen.

Producer and actor Jeff Bridges, who plays the title role of “The Giver,” began by expressing his admiration for the film.

“I originally wanted to direct my father Lloyd Bridges in the movie. I wanted to make a movie my kids could see, they were all young kids at the time. I was looking at a catalogue of children’s books and I came across this wonderful cover of this grizzled old guy with a Newberry award stamp on it,” Bridges said. “I thought this is great. I read it, I was knocked out on a kid book level but also as an adult. I thought this was a movie is love to see be made,” he said.

“I am thrilled bout the film we have now.

You can’t make something happen before it’s time and evidently this was the time of ‘The Giver.’ What Jeff (Bridges) was saying is that it’s every side of this film that

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we are proud of, from this incredible cast that we have put together, to the cinematographer and Phillip our captain did such an unbelievable job,” producer Nicki Silver said. “To have the support of Lois (Lowry), who would help with even the silliest of text that Phillip would send probably at midnight and then again at six a.m. the next morning. It’s been a journey but certainly one that’s been well worth it,” she said.

With the time period being so lengthy the thoughts on casting the roles changed. Bridges began by thinking the role of the giver would be played by his father Lloyd Bridges, but during the time Lloyd Bridges passed and a new generation of actors came of age for the roles.

“I finally qualified as the grizzled guy and it was funny. It felt just wonderful.

So much of the success of film creatively, and the success of the film in the theaters, people seeing it, depends on the cast. Not only the casting of the actors but who’s going to be the director who’s going to be our cinematographer and all of those slots were just filled in such a beautiful way, the movie kind of transcended my high expectations,” Bridges said.

Bridges had a duty to the book writer Lois Lowry.

The duty to make a film which best captures the written word and the world created by Lowry.

“The book is very internal, a lot of it is Jonas’ experience,” screenplay writer Robert Weide said. “It’s a very internal story. Frankly, the book, there is a point where Jonas decided to leave this community. The book kind of stays with him, you never go back see how his departure affects the community. We

know it’s going to affect them but we don’t see it on the book. That was Lois’s (Lowry) choice for the book. For the movie, when I did my drafts, way back, I thought well we have to see what’s going on back in the community. It was really a creation of a whole new story line,” he said.

“I think a lot of it was also timing, the people you see in front of you, Jeff (Bridges) who has been so enthusiastic for so many years and didn’t let it go.

Nikki Silver, who has been through a struggle similar to Jonas in order to get this movie made. Mr. Noyce being the right director and finding the right cast.

A lot of it was timing and finding the right cast,” screenplay writer Michael Mitnick said.

“I’m accustomed to sitting alone in a room and doing what I do, and controlling everything that I do. I get to write the screenplay and the dialogue. I

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get to design the costumes and I choose the camera angles when I’m writing a book. So then to relinquish it to a collaborative effort is very different and interesting to watch. Not threatening because I knew it was in good hands all along,” Lowry said. “Over the years I talked to Jeff (Bridges) from time to time and I could perceive his passion and that it was in the right hands. So I wasn’t nervous about it, well sometimes I was a little nervous about it,” she said.

The cast came together well. Jeff Bridges grew up and was able to fit into the giver role himself.

Brenton Twaites, who plays Jonas, comes in and brings a look that the film needs and an extraordinary acting talent.

“Jeff (Bridges) was great to work with I had a ream of a time and when you get this gift, this opportunity, you kind of have to pinch yourself every morning before you go to work,” Twaites said.

To join Twaites in the young part of the cast, Odeya Rush, who plays Fiona, continues with the massive acting talent in this film.

“I think it’s such an honor to work with these greats. When you meet them they are really relaxed, warm and make you feel very comfortable because they can be very intimidating and we had this kind of warm environment on set too. Working with Phill, my character takes suck a journey too because I’m not completely like the giver and Jonas, I’m not completely feeling things and I’m not getting memories, but still I start off really naive and thinking I’m in a good place and then, once I stop taking my injections, it’s just kind of like a state of confusion and I don’t really understand what I’m feeling...towards the end it turns to anger because I kind of realize the cruelty behind this community,” Rush said.

Along with Rush and Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes, who plays Jonas’ Mother, completes a strong set of female talent to match that of the male talent.

“I was very excited to be a part of this film. The book is so beloved and to be a part of this project with Jeff (Bridges) and Meryl Streep and all of these amazing actors was a pure delight. To work with Phillip was wonderful. I think it was interesting to play this character because this world has no emotion, no pain, for an actor your always trying to emote. You can’t, so it was interesting,” Holmes said.

The strong themes of the movie make the audiences look at the world differently. It’s quite a commentary on the human condition and what it means to be human.

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Mike's Movi

'MOVIE GIRL OF THE MONTH'

Nicole Alonso (29) If you could be a character in ANY movie, who would it be? and why?

That dream already came true because I get to play TANK in CRAWL OR DIE.

facebook.com/maegan.ashmaweegarcia instagram.com/ashmawee1315

ATTENTION FEMALE MOVIE FANS! Want to be my ‘MOVIE GIRL OF THE MONTH?’ Just answer the questions below and send 12 or more photos of yourself to mikethemovieguy@gmail. com.

Name: Age: City: What’s your favorite action movie?

What’s your favorite comedy?

What’s your favorite drama?

What’s your favorite horror?

What’s your favorite sci-fi & fantasy?

What’s your favorite chick flick?

What was the last movie you saw?

What movie are you looking forward to seeing?

If you could be a character in ANY movie, who would it be? and why?

What’s the perfect movie snack?

What the one movie everyone should have in their DVD collection?

What movie should have NEVER been made?

What’s your Twitter?

What’s your Facebook?

What’s your Instagram?

What’s your Website?

Please send 12 or more photos – they can be any type.

Just CUT & PASTE the questions and answers – and send everything to mikethemovieguy@gmail. com.

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ie Mayhem 40 Years Later, Mel Brooks’ Favorite Creation Comes to Life with a One-of-a-kind Anniversary Bluray™ September 9 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment 40 Lucky Fans Have a Chance to Win a Rare Autographed Set Photo from Mel Brooks!

LOS ANGELES, CA (August 14, 2014) – The scariest comedy of all time gets resurrected as Young Frankenstein: 40th Anniversary arrives on Blu-ray September 9 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Comedy icons Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr and Madeline Kahn star in Mel Brooks’ brilliantly outrageous riff on Mary Shelley’s classic story of Frankenstein. After inheriting his grandfather’s castle in Transylvania, young Dr. Frankenstein (Wilder) follows in his ancestor’s freaky footsteps as he sets out to reanimate a dead body in Brooks’ “funniest, most cohesive comedy to date.” (The New York Times) Young Frankenstein was nominated for two Academy Awards* and two Golden Globe Awards**. More than 40 years later, the film has stood the test of time, ranking at lucky number 13 on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 funniest films.

(Check out more at iwatchmike.com)

Check out more videos on youtube.com/user/iwatchmike

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Thisfunktional

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Reviews Jesus Figueroa

Writer

Finding the strength to live when there’s so much heartache, loss

Actress Chloe Grace-Moretz takes the coming-of-age Mia beautifully through a majestic growth in music and as a teenage girl graduating high school.

The film is much more intense than the trailers lead to believe as the main plot spans the entire film leaving no wasted time.

Mia, played by Chloe Grace-Moretz, is a cellist who captures the attention of punk rocker Adam, played

by Jaime Blackley, who is instantly captured in her mesmerizing talent.

The rocker Adam brings the uptight young Mia into his world and quickly shows that he has fallen for her.

An accident leaves Mia fighting for her life as the other

immediate family who were in the accident with her fight for their lives as well.

Moretz plays a charming girl with a heart and enormous talent, but even more so plays the coming-of-age part well making it beivable and charming.

Blackley is endearing as he charms the girl and the stage as a punk rocker with a heart going after the girl with a talent thats intimidating.

The films is emotional and does not let up. Although full of good times and happy moments they add up and make the sad moments sadder. “If I stay� in theaters August 22.

(More coverage on thisfunktional.com)

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Thisfunktional Foodie

Big Al’s pizzeria serves up delicious selections of pizza Jesus Figueroa

Writer

Delicious pizza with ingedients garanteed to be fresh, friedly customer service and Halal meats served at Big Al’s Pizzeria.

Pizza being one of the go-to foods for on-the-go has many well known chooices, but sometimes little Mom and Pop places just do it better.

The lunch special includes a small 10 inch pizza and drink for $8.99 plus tax. with a fairly large amount of ingredients to choose from, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

The delicious cheese pizza isn’t greasy at all. Most places have a cheese pizza that drips oil or grease.

The cheese taste great and the pizza bread is fluffy, light and full of flavor.

While the pizza as a whole is important the individual ingredients are as well and this

Photo by Jesus Figueroa NOMNOMNOM- Two tomato basil soup, left, the ’Shroom sandwich made of aged swiss cheese, portabello mushrooms and grilled onions on a sourdough bread, priced at $6.95, surrounded by delicious chips and a pickle. pizzeria does a fantastic job of using the right amout of sauce to not over power the flavor of the bread or any of the ingredients.

The toppings do taste fresh and the meats have a distinct taste.

Big Al’s Pizzeria is located in the city of Maywood at 6044 Atlantic Avenue.

The locale has room for dinning in and offers the option to carry out the order.

Find more prices and information at bigalspizzeria.com

Thisfunktional

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PLAYLIST

Review of her LA live show on Thisfunktional.com

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Eli Kay

Writer

Every once in a while we all need to just put on our birthday suits and stay in bed for hours and hours, doing absolutely nothing. Or almost nothing. Here are a few things you can do indoors with minimum effort and maximum fun.

TV SHOW TO WATCH:

Ripper Street: If you are a fan of mystery, crime and drama with hints of wit and comedy, this show is the one for you! Set in 1889’s London, a few months after the last victim of Jack the Ripper, the Whitechapel police precinct is trying to solve murders and keep order in an era where change and evolution is just around the corner while the ghosts of a horrible past haunts every case.

TV SHOW NOT TO WATCH

Luxury Comedy: Following the quality and success of The Mighty Boosh, we all expected Noel Fielding’s solo project to be of equal quality but we were wrong. Set in a surreal and a bit psychedelic world, with no apparent story line, reason or logic, the skits are definitely original but not funny.

NEUTRAL SHOW

The IT Crowd: This is a neutral show because it is a show for everyone. It can suit every mood and can be watched in any time. A duo of nerdy, social misfits who work as IT techs in a company, welcome a new recruit in their team, a trendy woman who knows nothing about computers or Information Technology and would turn the whole department upside down.

WHAT TO EAT:

What would go great with a British theme and a cup of tea? A sweet snack of course. Take two slices of bread. Put butter on both, and orange marmalade or jelly on one of them. Then comes the tricky part. Chose one of your favourite chocolate bars (I would suggest a Twix) cut it in slices and place it on top of the marmalade. Put one slice of bread over the other and toast. The melted candy bar with the marmalade and butter will guarantee a sweet-tooth satisfaction.

WHERE TO SURF:

Did I just fuel your obsession for British stuff? Then go straight to www.britishstuff.org and find everything you need to know about everyday British items. Or maybe you can go to www. thingsbritish.co.uk or www.britishcornershop.co.uk and get to buy every little British thing you want, with worldwide delivery! Cheerio!

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HaunteD Hote Jesus Figueroa

Writer

I have been researching European haunted hotels for months and I came across four hotels that have a big reputation for being horrifying and in some cases dangerous.

Renyle House Hotel: This hotel is located in Galway, Ireland.

As with every house hotel, this building has been working since 1917 and was believed to be haunted since then. Even after it was burned down by the IRA and reopened in 1930, the ghosts of this hotel are still lurking around.

There is a particular room where the guests felt the bedsheets being tugged, a menacing presence in the room with them and couldn’t sleep.

They also experienced doors opening and closing by themselves. A few séances later, discovered that the spirit was a 14 year old boy who committed suicide in that very room.

If you wish to stay in this hotel, the rates start at $77 per room, per night.

Bela Vista Hotel: Hotel Bela Vista Praia da Rocha is located in Portimao,Portugal.

It’s a luxurious pool and spa hotel, filled with all the amenities, it just happens to be haunted. But that is the beauty of it. Built in the 19th century by the Magalhães Barros family.

Henry Bivar de Vasconcelos turned the house into

a hotel around 1930. Staff and guests of the hotel reported footsteps, moans and cries.

Hotel Bela Vista has recently been renovated and re-opend as a 5-star boutique hotel restaurant and spa but the supernatural phenomena hasn’t stopped.

If you are interested in hearing cries, scratches, moans or footsteps in your room, then the rates for this beautiful hotel start at $135 per room, per night.

Hotel Cismigiu: Cismigiu, a hotel based in Bucharest, Romania, was built in 1914 as a hotel, closed in 1970, then in the 90s turned into a students dorm, and now it’s back as a hotel.

It is been said that this hotel is haunted by many ghosts.

When Cismigiu was a student dorm, a few students had died due to unstable building conditions. One of the ghosts that haunt it is a young girl that died in an elevator accident.

Many have said that they heard her cries and can see her spirit wander the halls.

Video documentations are flooding the internet about apparitions in this hotel and because there are a lot of freak accidents happening, there was talk about closing it entirely.

Recently the hotel was renovated, received a 4 star rating and now bookings start at $260 per room, per night.

Hotel 12: Hotel 12 is in Leptokaria, Greece.

Leptokaria is a very small town near the sea that looks

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els of Europe

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alive only during the summer months.

When my research led to that hotel, I realised that I had to go check it out myself. I persuaded my friend Maddy to come with me and we drove there the next day.

We were not going to stay in that hotel of course, we just wanted to ask a few people about it and take pictures. But when we got there, the hotel that we booked was closed.

There was no indication that it was even in business.

We waited for about 45 minutes and then we decided to go see Hotel 12 and not stay the night.

When we got there, that hotel was closed too. We thought that due to the season (it was the beginning of April) all the tourist places were closed.

We went for dinner in a nearby restaurant. Rain began to fall and it wouldn’t stop so we waited patiently before we returned to our car.

By then, it was after 10pm and thought we better get going but once we drove past Hotel 12, we saw it was open.

“Let’s go ask if we can stay tonight!” I said. My friend was wildly against it but she followed me. The hall was lit only with a small lamp and the desk was equipped with an antique bell.

We didn’t have to ring it, for the proprietor heard us come in and he exited his office.

We booked a room on the third floor, paid it in advance and found it ourselves.

The proprietor was very particular in having the money up front.

The room was cosy and clean.

It had a balcony and a nice bathroom.

We were exhausted so we forgot all about the haunting and we went right to sleep.

I couldn’t tell what time it was when my friend woke up screaming that there was a huge spider in her bed.

We searched for a few minutes but couldn’t find anything.

We went back to sleep only to awake a few minutes later by a weird whistle.

We couldn’t determine where it was coming from.

After the whistle stopped, we could hear a group of people singing.

In the morning, when we checked out, we said that a couple of guests in other rooms were noisy and the proprietor told us that there were no other guests.

We were happy to get out of there and when we asked about the haunting at the local bakery, they told us that individuals and even groups of people have vanished from this hotel.

It is believed that the spirit haunting it is “kidnapping” guests and having them relive their last night over and over again.

I don’t know if it’s true, I only know what I experienced, and I am not going back there. If you want to visit Hotel 12, rates start at $55

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‘Constantine’ will delights TV audience Eli Kay

Writer “The most heroic ‘anti-hero’ on television.”

I have to admit that I was expecting the television adaptation of “Hellblazer” with great excitement, but what I got was a poorly written crossover between the comic books and the 2005 Hollywood film.

What seems to be the best thing in this show is an incredible Matt Ryan who has captured the essence of John Constantine down to the core and is providing a full fleshed, spitting image of the badass exorcist the comic book fans know and love. Same goes of course for Charles Halford who is a great Chas.

Those two amazing actors can hold the audience hooked on the show on their own.

On the other hand, there’s the character of Liv (Lucy Griffiths) who looks a bit like Rachel Weisz, and reminds us of Angela Dodson from the 2005 film with Keanu Reeves.

It seems to me that, at least, the pilot doesn’t know what it wants to be.

First of all, everything happens too quickly and too easily.

We meet John in a psychiatric facility, tormented by past demons and poor choices.

One really fast –not so much of an exorcism, later he seems to have forgotten all that and is off chasing cases with this young American girl from Atlanta.

We’re getting tossed around stories and characters so quickly that we don’t have time to acclimate.

The backstory and the flashbacks with the nonexistent background (literally, the background is black) were weak to say the least.

Personally, I would like to see chain-smoking, more powers, villains like Nergal, Papa Midnite and Gabriel, and maybe cool female characters like ‘Ellie’.

Apparently the leaked pilot episode turned out to be a good thing for the creators of Constantine, as the negative response made them cast new characters, trying to give a little depth to an otherwise childish take on a classic story.

I would definitely recommend checking out Matt Ryan as John Constantine and Charles Halford as Chas, and hoping that the episodes that follow will show a more accurate, sociopathic occult detective with an adrenaline addiction, instead of a loveable and evidently heroic “anti-hero”

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