• I'm getting back into writing my short stories and stuff, but have yet to find a solid starting point or story I want to focus on.
• I've got a ton of stuff going on around my house, including my mom being home a hell of a lot more, which sucks ass.
• And I've got girl issues coming out the ass.

A while back, I heard about a new film coming from the director of the past few SAW movies, Darren Lynn Bousman, titled Repo! The Genetic Opera. Upon hearing about it, much was shrouded in mystery, except the fact that it was to be a goth-rock-opera horror musical, about a future with organ failures, and mysterious “Repo Men”, harvesting financed organs. And since then, the film has gone through multiple release dates, before finally landing on November 7^th of this year.

Recently, the soundtrack, compiling the 22 songs that are in the movie (out of 57 songs that were written for the film) was released as an online download and hardcopy purchase through Amazon. Since I was lucky enough to purchase and download it, I figured I’d do up a small, track-by-track review of the rather eccentric soundtrack for you all, to show you what Repo! is like.

-WARNING-

The Repo! The Genetic Opera soundtrack is for a mature audience, as the language and content deals with some pretty intense subjects, like extreme violence, sex, and death in general, so if you’re younger, I advise you to consult with your parents before downloading the soundtrack (you’d have to anyways), and make sure they know what you’re listening to. Same goes with the movie, when that comes out, both in theatres, and on DVD (which, if rumors are correct, will be out sometime in January).

-NOTE-

Kind of a spoiler alert I guess, but any plot points I point out in this review are simply my speculation on what I got from the lyrics in the soundtrack prior to seeing the film. Any spoilers that I leak here are entirely unintentional, as at that time I still didn’t know exactly what happens in the film.

It all starts with “At The Opera Tonight”, a track involving all the primary actors in the film, Shilo Wallace (Alexa Vega), Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman), Nathan Wallace/The Repo Man (Anthony Stewart Head), Rotti, Pavi, and Luigi Largo (Paul Sorvino, Nivek Ogre, and Bill Moseley, respectively), The Graverobber (Terrence Zdunich), and Amber Sweet (Paris Hilton) in a track that automatically introduces you to each of them and brings you into the full world of Repo!

“Crucifixus” brings in the operatic feel to the film, with Blind Mag putting every ounce of emotion into the German words, while a low chant is carried on in the back. From there, we are brought into “Things You See In A Graveyard”, sung by Rotti Largo, describing what he sees in his children, and describing his situation, his slow dying, and his love affair with Nathan’s late wife, Marni.

“Infected” is Shilo’s first bit of rebellion showing, and her resentment at her father’s over-protectiveness with her medical condition (which I’m gambling the movie explains more), with the heavy guitar as she belts out the line, “Why are my genetics such a bitch?”. On the other side of the field, Nathan’s main ballad, “Legal Assassin” shows the inner conflict between what he has to do on his own, raising Shilo without Marni, and his job as the Repo Man. The “Assassin, Murderer, Monster” whispering, makes the impact of the key line, “I am only living out a lie!” more intense.

To lighten the tone, “Bravi”, takes you into a small commercial for Rotti’s Genetic Opera, his final act as head of GeneCo before his eventual death. From there, we get a bit of explanation from The Graverobber, in “21^st Century Cure”, as well as some insight into his role, and thoughts on the whole organ-loaning business.

Sibling Rivalry is rampant in the Largo family, as we can tell in “Mark It Up”, as Luigi and Pavi Largo (with a bit of the sour side of Amber Sweet at the beginning) argue over who is better to get the company when their dad kicks the bucket, Luigi, who “[has the] brains enough”, of Pavi, who “steals all the hearts”.

As Amber Sweet left in the beginning of “Mark It Up”, she comes back to get her Zydrate fix from the Graverobber, in the short track, “Can’t Get It Up If The Girl’s Still Breathing”, before the Graverobber educates us on the glowing blue drug (“Zydrate comes in a little glass vial…”) used to dull the pain of surgery in “Zydrate Anatomy”, and comes across Miss Sweet again.

“Thankless Job” is where we really get to see the Repo Man side to Nathan, as he goes about his business harvesting the organs for GeneCo, a “Thankless job, but someone’s gotta do it!” Meanwhile, Shilo comes across Blind Mag, who has some news to tell her in “Chase The Morning” with her rather interesting eyes.

Back with Nathan, the inner conflict between his two different personalities becomes a bit more apparent, as he deals with what the Largos are asking from him with his job, and his guilt at what he did to Marni in “Night Surgeon”. In “17”, Shilo rebels in a punk rock rant to her father that he needs to start living in the present, and let Shilo be her own person, now that she’s 17.

Rotti, who has already shown that he likes to meddle in Nathan’s affairs, starts to take a liking to Shilo, and concludes that “Gold makes the world go round” in the track “Gold”, and that if his children aren’t fit to take the company, then Shilo will if he has his way. A small while later, in “We Started This Op’ra Shit”, the Largos kick of the Genetic Opera, urging “Everybody, Testify!”

In “Needle Through A Bug”, Shilo helps out The Graverobber, who has been cleaned out of his Zydrate by Amber, which is what Shilo needs. The ballad from Blind Mag, “Chromaggia” evokes all the emotion that is evident in her character, especially as she switches from Italian to English at the end to belt out, “Chromaggia, chromaggia, /Come Take these eyes, /I would rather be blind.”

“Let The Monster Rise” takes us to Shilo’s discovery of what her father really is, as she has now taken the bait set by Rotti, and Nathan is wanting to give up his role as the Repo Man. In the end, she leaves, and Nathan concludes that “…let the father die! /And let the monster rise!” Now, there is a gap story-wise, which I’m sure the movie fills in, because from there, we jump to “I Didn’t Know I’d Love You So Much”, a slow, sad song between Nathan and Shilo, as Nathan is dying (from what exactly, I don’t know).

Shilo’s small ballad in “Genetic Emancipation” shows her freedom, and how she must now move on, alone, but with her family in her heart (say it with me, “Awwwww”). It all ends with a menacing bit of info from The Graverobber about the Repo Man, titled “Genetic Repo Man”, which I believe is the credits track, and a perfect end to an amazing soundtrack, and I’m sure that when Repo! The Genetic Opera hits theatres next month, those who have downloaded it and see the movie will be singing along as loud as I will be.

So this weekend has actually been pretty great, and has seen me in a pretty decent mood, for the first time in more than a month and a half. Well, mostly Friday was awesome, so that’s the bulk of this entry. And to sum up Saturday and today: Saw Twilight Saturday, relaxed all day today.

But most definitely, Friday was the superior day for me, and in truth, its reason for being started about a year and a bit ago. Listen now to my lengthy tale.

So, I used to work at the Scotiabank Theatre back during TIFF 2007, where I was fortunate enough to sell tickets to Anthony Stewart Head (you may remember him as Giles from the Buffy TV show) a couple of times. Curious as to why he was here (as far as I know, there weren’t any major film festival pictures with him in them at that time), I went and checked his IMDB page, and saw that he was working on a film titled, Repo! The Genetic Opera, which happened to be filming here. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to see him another time after that and ask him more about the film that was only described on the page as “a goth-rock-opera about organ repossession” at the time.

This intrigued me, as I also learned that Paris Hilton was in the film as well, hence her being in the news last October (?) for an incident involving an adult video store here in town. So, I made it my goal to keep as up to date on this film as possible, and as I learned more, I began to obsess more and more, checking out the original stage play site, reading up on the creators, and going back and watching director Darren Lynn Bousman’s other features that more people know about, Saw 2, 3, and 4.

This film became the object of my affection for months, and every time I had a chance, I would talk about it to people, discuss the characters I had read about, the actors in it, and the constantly shifting release date and how “it must be good if they’ve wrapped production and it’s still not near out yet”.

When more information came out, I noted it down, bookmarked pages, favorited videos on Youtube. The soundtrack came out; I bought the downloadable version and made it a permanent addition to my mp3 player.

Finally, the day came when Repo! was announced to be getting its Toronto Premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. I promptly bought a ticket, and waited in line for more than an hour to go in and see what had become an obsession for so many months.

As I sat in the theatre with the 800 or so other fans, Genterns among them, an announcement was made before the film started that Terrance Zdunich, one of the creators of the original staged operas that evolved into Repo!, would be doing a Q&A after the film, as well as signing autographs.

The film then started to thunderous applause. It exceeded all expectations, in the acting, the singing, and the visuals. The actors ceased to be, and were their characters, through and through. It was not Bill Moseley, Paul Sorvino, Ogre, Alexa Vega, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton, and Terrance Zdunich on the screen. It was Luigi, Rotti, and Pavi Largo, Shilo and Nathan Wallace, Blind Mag, Amber Sweet, and The Graverobber bringing the world of organ financing, scalpel sluts, Zydrate guns, and Repo Men to life.

When the film ended to even more thunderous applause, Terrance took the stage, along with other members of the crew, and even a victim of the Repo Man for a Q&A to shed some more light on the film. Afterwards, I was able to snag an autograph, and walked happily home after being told by Terrance to add him on myspace, and keep in touch, which I did moments after walking in the door.

A small while later, after the Repo Road Tour had started, it was announced that the Bloor cinema would again be showing Repo!, this time for a week long engagement, and the premiere night would have Darren Bousman in attendance for a Q&A. Sadly, I was too late to pre-order a ticket online, so I went and checked in at the theatre to find out that they would have tickets the day of, and that they still had about 600 remaining. I would be back.

Friday morning dawned cold, but bright, with good things to come throughout the day. I arrived at the theatre around 2 in the afternoon, to find out I was too early, and that I would have to return at 4 to purchase my ticket. So, I wandered to the Eaton’s Centre, and traded in two old games to get Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades for my DS for a mere 11 dollars. I made it back to the theatre in time to get my ticket at 4 on the dot, and went for another wander to get some food, as I had a little more than an hour and a half to wait before the film started.

Again, Repo blew me away, a rare effect for a film to have the second time around on me. And if it can have that effect on me, then I’m fairly sure that it will still blow me a way even after a hundred times seeing it.

But the best was yet to come. Darren took the stage, after the film achieved a standing ovation from most of the audience, and the Q&A was underway.

With every answer, my respect for him grew, especially when he finished it off with a small story about how he was the odd man out in high school and stuff like that until he found Rocky Horror Picture show, and the community of “freaks” that formed from that, where they were all welcome, regardless, and how he was so happy to see that with Repo, a similar community has formed, bringing people together, and bringing them from everywhere for it, which touched me, as my story is almost parallel to his, with Repo being my Rocky Horror.

When all was said and done, we all proceeded to the Paupers Pub across the street to socialize and have drinks, where I got my chance to talk to Darren, and drop him my contact information for future reference, if he’s ever in need of some extra hands shooting here in Toronto. I know that my chances are slim, if at all, but after that night, I know that I would love to work on a set with this man, especially after watching the behind the scenes to Saw 2, and seeing how much fun everyone seemed to have while also getting the work done. In the end, I just have to wait and see what the future holds.

Before leaving, I got an autograph on one of the many Repo promo cards Darren had in his bag (see it down below), and got a photo on my phone with him (also see down below). With a handshake and a promise that I would also stay in touch with him, I took my leave so that I could get the nice warm sleep I was in dire need of after the day’s events.

So that’s my epic journey through Friday, with the months of lead-in to it, and with any luck, it’s not the end of my time with Repo, and Darren Bousman, and the community that I feel so welcome in.

If you had told me back when I met Anthony Head that it would have led to the events of this past weekend, I probably would have called you insane, but now, I could probably be told anything for how this will end up impacting my future, and I’d probably believe you, because if this can happen, anything must be possible.

That’s all for now, so enjoy the images, and definitely check out Repo! online, and check it out! It’s playing at the Bloor Cinema until this Thursday, and Repo Road Tour 2 is starting up soon, hitting up a few more cities in a few more days. Help us get it in a wider release, more road tours, an extended soundtrack, and a whole shitload more stuff!

I’ll leave you with some links, as well as my top 5 tracks at this post time.

www.repo-opera.com - Repo! Homepage!

www.notyourparentsopera.com - Buy the soundtrack!

www.repo-opera.com/board/ - The Repo! Message boards!

www.youtube.com/user/RepoOperaMovie - Check Repo! out on Youtube!

www.myspace.com/repoopera Add them on Myspace! Find the character pages and add them too!

Top 5:

We Started This Op’ra Shit! - Repo! Soundtrack

Mark It Up - Repo! Soundtrack

Legal Assassin - (See a pattern going on?) Repo! Soundtrack

Zydrate Anatomy - (I’m sure it’s obvious by now…) Repo! Soundtrack

21^st Century Cure - (You guessed it!) Repo! Soundtrack