Check out this fantastic stop-motion tribute to John Carpenter's THE THING on what I assume is the filmmakers MySpace or on YouTube. Described as such:
First non-official video clip made for Zombie Zombie, the electrifying French duo of Etienne Jaumet and Cosmic Neman. Directed by Simon Gesrel and Xavier Ehretsmann thanks to their favourite toys... the GI Joes ! The video is an hommage to the director AND soundtrack composer John Carpenter, especially one of his masterpieces : THE THING.
BTW, there's a rumour going around that 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles is adapting a script for John Carpenter to direct. A good match, no?
Here's the trailer for THE BROTHERS BLOOM, from some of the people who brought you BRICK, a great little neo-noir flick that a lot of people took notice of in 2005.
So, the San Diego Comic Con just ended, leaving in it's wake a legion of fanboys still recovering from too much Red Bull and too many 'awkward in the pants' moments due to girls in skimpy costumes and the debut of the X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE movie trailer.
It's that happy time of the year for all robots in the vicinity of Toronto this fall, as the Toronto International Film Festival's MIDNIGHT MADNESS programme has been announced. What stands out at first glance, especially compared to last year's films, is the absence of well known filmmakers. No Romero, no Argento, not even Miike this year! Call me crazy, but I couldn't be happier, as I thought last year's MOTHER OF TEARS and DIARY OF THE DEAD were really weak. I'd much rather witness an emerging talent than be tied down to the death rattles of previous genre masters.
Click the pics below for more info, or go here for the official press release.
Now available for download at Archive.org: DEMENTIA 13, aka The Haunted and the Hunted, which the all-knowing Wiki describes as such:
Dementia 13 is a 1963 horror thriller released by American International Pictures, starring William Campbell, Patrick Magee, and Luana Anders. The film was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Roger Corman. Although Coppola had been involved in at least two nudie films previously, Dementia 13 served as his first mainstream, "legitimate" directorial effort. The plot follows a scheming young woman who, after having inadvertently caused the heart attack death of her husband, attempts to have herself written into her rich mother-in-law's will. She pays a surprise visit to her late husband's family castle in Ireland, but her plans become permanently interrupted by an axe-wielding lunatic who begins to stalk and murderously hack away at members of the family.
In lieu of a 'proper' review for THE DARK KNIGHT (spoiler.. it's good!) until I watch it again, check out these adorable Batman mini-dudes from Dustin Nguyen's blog. He's been doing a run of Detective Comics covers that are really cool.
Over at Harry Moseby Confidential (a fantastic blog of all things 70's) I came across this promotional pic for BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB, which has been described as "one of Hammer Horror's most maligned films from the seventies". HMC's week long tribute can be found here.
One look at star Valerie Leon and her cat Puddy was all I needed to see... the dvd is now on my 'to be watched' pile.
Yes, it stars Michael Cera, so some jackass at MTV is calling it the next JUNO. Groan. How original!
Well I've seen it, and it's not JUNO, not that I disliked JUNO, but on subsequent viewings it leans into quirky for the sake of quirk, and the dialogue runs way too far into the realm of the unreal.
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST > JUNO
There! I said it! You can quote me. This film is completely adorkable, and all the young robots will fall utterly in love with Norah (Kat Dennings, last seen in CHARLIE BARTLETT).
There's no real news on an actual release date for ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, but there is a new poster over at Shock Till You Drop, which looks a lot like the above German poster. Then mash it up with the original poster and you get this one!
If you happen to be in the neighborhood, it is screening at this year's Fantasia Film Festival.
Much to my chagrin I've yet to watch the gyno-horror-comedy TEETH, even though it's already out on dvd. In the UK it's just starting it's theatrical run, and they've put up this sweet viral site about Vagina Dentata, which includes the myth that Hall and Oats were inspired by the notorious brief outbreak of Vagina Dentata in the earlier eighties, with the song Maneater.
So we were fairly pleased to see the initial 'retro style' poster way back in January for THE STRANGERS, even though the story sounded a hell of a lot like the French film ILS, aka THEM from 2006. Then we saw the trailer and thought, "Hey, looks like it could be really creepy". Not gory or fantastical, but a tight little thriller that might give us pause when our heads hit the pillow, wondering if we remembered to lock the door. Well... I don't even remember getting into bed after watching this film.
THE STRANGERS is the very small story of James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler), spending the night in a somewhat isolated summer house after attending a wedding reception. They are terrorized by three strangers in masks. To tell you any more of the plot would give away what little there is that you havn't already gleamed from the trailer. Obviously, people in weird masks are scary.
At first I was really feeling it. There's a built in tension that I felt was played very well before we get to 'the strangers', and the initial reactions to these possible intruders gave me a bit of hope that we were not going to fall into the trap of jeopardy due to the protagonists idiotic actions. YES! If you're alone and you thing a weirdo is hanging around outside your isolated summer home, for god sakes grab a kitchen knife. Yay, common sense prevails... but unfortunately it doesn't last.
Yes, there a few 'jump out of your seat' moments and there were squeals from the audience when suddenly one of these masked strangers appeared in a window or slowly wondered into frame while our protagonists stood nearby unawares... but that was it. Soon enough I was calling all the typical mistakes and seemingly necessary scenes from countless movies where the writing isn't strong enough to convince us that if we were in the same situation we would have easily escaped 30 minutes into the movie. First there's 'you stay here while I go here'. Really? You're fairly sure there are ax murderers outside your front door, but I'm going to leave the woman I love alone in the house while I go do 'whatever'. Then there was the pre-requisite of where our heroine must trip and fall when running away, twisting her ankle and forcing her to hobble around for the rest of the film. And of course there's the friend who unawares stumbles in the fray... godspeed to you our slight chance at rescue!
On top of these cliches, we're given villains without a bit of personality or reason for their actions, not that it matters when our protagonists don't have the common sense God gave a rock. Telling us it was "inspired by true events" only convinced me of the old adage "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story."
I don't know why certain entertainment mega-corps release trailers for upcoming films on their websites (Mtv!) but then restrict it's viewing to only the U.S. It's the INTERNET! You know, the WORLD wide web. Clearly someone else, such as the nice folks at TRAILER ADDICT, are gonna rip it off and present it for all to see.
Click the big red guy above for 5 new banner posters.
First thought... Radiohead's video for the song JUST...
Second thought... this might be M. Night's last chance to make good, and the word so far is far from good.
Any Palahniuk film is a pal of mine! *Yes, I know that's lame :P
A brilliant, heart wrenching flick from the UK. So far it looks like it'll only receive a limited theatrical run in the US, seek it out if you can. Click the poster to see the trailer.
Here's the first trailer for THE WACKNESS, written and directed by Jonathan Levine (ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE). Right up front I'm gonna tell ya, I've met Jonathan, we hung out a bit, and I think he's a top notch guy, so yes, this is a plug. Shameless perhaps, but so what!? I havn't seen the film, and frankly the trailer doesn't blow me away, but it looks to have quite a bit of style, and the film kicked Sundance's ass this year.
Here's a synopsis:
In the sweltering summer of 1994, Rudy Giuliani is scouring New York City within an inch of its life, hip-hop is permeating white youth culture, and a pot-dealing loser kid, Luke Shapiro, is trying to figure out how to solve his parents’ insolvency, beat depression, and get laid before pushing off to college. Luckily he’s got a nifty deal with a psychiatrist, Dr. Squires, who trades him therapy sessions for weed. It happens that the oddball doctor’s marriage is crumbling, so the two—one in late adolescence, the other in late middle-age—embark on messy passages into new life stages. As Luke falls for a classmate who just happens to be Squires’s daughter, the summer heats up, and he follows doctor’s orders, learning to coexist with pain and make it part of him, rather than let it become his downfall.
Looks like we'll get a limited release in Canada on July 11th.
I was going to write a straight ahead review for this, but I really just don't want to. Now usually I enjoy writing about films that I find to have 'questionable merit', but in this case I'm going to try something different. First off, here's a brief plot synopsis I stole from the internets:
Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.
So, rather than describe this film as the product of a stoner's retread of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, I present my seven helpful hints for a living the tough cop lifestyle:
When you wake up in the morning, always reach for your gun first, cuz you're a stone cold killer after all.
It's much easier to drink from those little airplane bottles of vodka while you're driving than a 40oz-er or a flask. Also, don't let a little vomit in the morning discourage you.
Dating a nurse is a great 2-fer, cuz you loves a good shoot out.
Sure, you and your co-workers might plant evidence to get the bad guys, but don't be surprised if your mates turn out to be 'really' dirty cops. (You might think this is a spoiler, but you'll be on board after the first 15 minutes of the film)
When someone gets shot, holding their hand dramatically is not as helpful as say trying to stop the bleeding or calling an ambulance.
Best way to gather information from a "perp"... yellow pages to the head!
Even if he really wants to, don't take your fresh faced new partner to kill the guys who killed your last partner.
Bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do? If you're Jay Mohr, please lose that moustache, it's trippin' me out! Also, Aidan from Sex and the City isn't very intimidating despite his facial hair, and Forest Whitaker needs to turn it down a notch.
Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, the feature length debut by Brit writer/director Andrea Arnold is a dark, riveting, and awkwardly sensual tale of an employee of a private security firm that monitors the cctv cameras in a rough neighbourhood of North Glasgow. In a fantastic performance by Kate Dickie, Jackie lives a solitary existance, watching the everyday dramas of life around her through the security cameras, except for the occasion unfulfilling shag with a married co-worker in his car. One day she spots Clyde (Tony Curran), an ex-con who she becomes obsessed with for reasons we don't discover for most of the film. The only other piece of information we're given is that she has lost her husband and child in unrevealed circumstances.
RED ROAD is supposedly the first in a trilogy of films under the ADVANCE PARTY concept. The concept came out of a discussion with Lars Van Trier and the executive producers Lone Scherfig and Anders Thomas Jensen. Each film would be made by a first time director and producers, using a set list of characters and back stories which the directors could then write their story around. The same actors would be cast for all three films. The focus on which particular characters would be up to the individual director, but all the films would have to take place in Scotland.
As we watch Jackie's obsession with Clyde grow into a dangerous yet sexualized place her motives come into question despite the obvious pain that she's in, and you find your loyalties shifting right up until the reveal of their past connection.
Despite the ending, which compared to all that has come before might seem a bit trite, RED ROAD is a great tragic story told with a deft and rawness than is rarely found in a mainstream/studio picture. Apparently the second film is in 'development limbo', but I'd be very curious to see where this material goes from here.
Fuck Martha Stewart. Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man. So fuck off with your sofa units and Strinne green stripe patterns. I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let's evolve, and let the chips fall where they may.
