Episode 6: The Endless Dream of Morpheus

Of course it was going to happen at some point: an episode devoted to dreams and The Sandman. For this occasion, we invited director Sasa Stanisic as a guest to give us a picture of why this series of graphic novels is so successful not just as entertainment but as an art work with a multitude of layers within layers. His answer in summary, it's because of how well the author Neil Gaiman establishes the novel's world where ancient myths and popular culture intersect. Our answer is a bit less constructed: it's because Morpheus looks a lot like Robert Smith from the Cure (even though he really copies the physical appearance of the author himself). Plus, it doesn't hurt that the stories are so touchy: take one element out of each Sandman tale, and it all falls apart into a stream of piled up emotions... which, of course, adds to the drama of narration.

We also discussed some aspects of dreaming as well as the horror of waking up into infinity, a concept that gives fuel to one of the scariest non-horror films of the last 10 years, Richard Linklater's Waking Life. Freddy Krueger was also mentioned briefly, and of course, mostly in the context of the blood geyser sequence everyone is talking about...

Now the playlist for The Endless Dream... As you will notice, the song selection for this episode is divided in two radically different halves, the first devoted to "totally uncool" golden oldies that are not only quoted in Neil Gaiman's masterpiece, but also happen to be among my favorite single songs of all time; and the second soaking in a much darker sound full of "hits" such as Einsturzende Neubauten's "Armenia." More importantly, starting from this episode the show is fully recorded and available for your listening experience by clicking HERE...

Finally, it would be a terrible shame to omit the classic homage to the Candy Colored Clown: Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet! Sweet dreams...

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The Sandman

By now, introducing Neil Gaiman's Sandman should be as completely superfluous as introducing the Batman, but it isn't. People that don't read comics on regular basis are generally unaware of Gaiman's achievements in literature. Blame the mainstream media, and blame Pavlov: they are responsible for conditioning the public to take notice only if something is adapted as a blockbuster motion picture. Then again, maybe it is better this way. The Sandman should feel very personal and shared only with the chosen few. But don't take my word. Just read the first book and decide for yourself. Or, if you have already read it, pat yourself on the back. In any case, I don't feel up to the task to give proper introduction to one of the most profound characters in comics, and I will instead provide you with this link and that link. Enjoy, and sweet dreams!

Episode 4: Hunting for Witches

On the night between 30th April and 1st May, parts of Europe celebrated Walpurgis Night, and in that honor, the 4th episode of Danse Macabre was devoted to witches and warlocks from around the world. To be honest, we've never met either Wiccans or Stregherians but it didn't bother us a bit to talk about them and their deities, nor did it slow us down in the discussion of possible pre-Christian witch-cults. Of course, the Triple Goddess was mentioned, and a special reference to one special comic book called The Sandman slipped our mouths.

One important thing to note: there are very few good witch movies, you can really count them on one hand. Of course, there is Dario Argento's Suspiria, and as deeply flawed it is as a movie, it qualifies 100% to be treated as an amazing work of art. Just look at that last shot in the next clip! Is this whole scene just a background to one disturbing art installation?

And of course, there is always the playlist of the show, available for download right HERE.

Finally, one couldn't finish this post without mentioning Häxan, the 1922 Swedish/Danish silent film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, which basically demonstrated how ignorance and superstition combine to produce witch-hunts. I'm personally sad to say, nothing has changed since Christensen's time - except maybe that the witches people hunt nowadays are not called witches anymore but mostly "enemies of the state," whatever that state may stand for.

If you own the rights to any of the material poster here and would like it removed, please e-mail me and I will take it down.