"Undead, Undead, Undead!"

Bauhaus playing in the club, David Bowie as a vampire... nostalgia for the ol' goth days. Might explain the previous post a little.

Maybe it's 'wrong'...

but I dig this pic!

It's too bad that the film, RISE: BLOOD HUNTER, looks like a smarmy direct to DVD title.

"I'm a British nanny, and I'm dangerous"

Three very watchable actors running around Toronto shooting at each other. Huh.

If you...are thinking...of watching...this...trailer...

One of my favourite parts of GRINDHOUSE was the fake trailer for DON'T. Edgar Wright sites the film THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE as inspiration, also known as DON'T OPEN THE WINDOW, also known as LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE.

Why are The Birds here?

There seems to be a real trend in remakes where they want to 'explain' away anything that was mysterious or ambiguous. The remake of THE BIRDS appears to be no different according to Cathy Schulman, president of Mandalay Pictures.

“We think we have a very contemporary take,” Schulman said. “In the original, the birds just showed up, and it was kind of like, why are the birds here? This time, there’s a reason why they’re here and (people) have had something to do with it. There’s an environmental slant to what could create nature fighting back.”

Maybe the birds will attack Al Gore for tricking me into watching a Powerpoint presentation instead of a film!

X-Men uniforms found on Demon Planet!

As I eagerly await my rental of PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES to arrive in my mailbox, I noticed something while watching the trailer. The costumes looked a little familiar...

FRACTURE review

I caught a sneak of this new thriller today starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Basically, Anthony Hopkins plays Ted Crawford, an engineer specializing in fracture mechanics, who discovers that his wife is having an affair, so he shoots her. Ryan Gosling plays a hot shot DA named Willie Beachum who has an almost unbeatable court record and a pending position at a prestigious corporate law firm.

This should be Willie's last case, open and shut within the week considering the apparent overwhelming evidence, including a signed confession. Ted, however, has an elaborate scheme up his sleeve which Hopkins delivers with steely eyed intelligence and a droll sense of humour. Of course we've seen this from Hopkins before in the role of Hannibal Lecter, but it's still fun to watch. Also muddying the waters is the fact that hostage negotiator Rob Nunally, (Billy Burke) who arrives on the scene of the shooting is actually the one having the affair with Ted's wife. In short order Willie's case begins to fall apart as the 'evidence' begins to lose all merit.

There is also a sub-plot involving Willie's affair with his soon to be superior Nikki Gardner, (Rosamund Pike) a cold corporate shark who questions his commitment to his new position when his last case doesn't wrap up in short order as was expected. Gosling continues to shine as the cocky lawyer who wrestles with the ethical issues of winning at any cost and leaving the public sector for his swanky new corporate position. Watching these two actors go head to head is where the film shines, especially since I caught one of the central surprises for our climatic finale as it was happening in the first 20 minutes.

Overall, a fairly standard yet entertaining thriller.

It's Alive Lives

The remakes continue...

In heaven, everything is fine...

I have fond yet appropriately disturbing memories of seeing Eraserhead many times at the Bloor Rep Theatre. It served as a litmus test for finding out which of my friends I could really connect with.
Now David Lynch's newest film INLAND EMPIRE is finally coming to Toronto!!!

Guilty Pleasure #1

We all have them, we all love them, we are all ashamed of them to differing degrees... our guilty pleasures. I have my fair share, but the first one that comes to mind is Roger Avary's 2002 film adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel THE RULES OF ATTRACTION. I will admit to thinking that the movie is rather crude, self-indulgent, unrealistic, stocked with unsympathetic characters and somewhat pointless from a storytelling perspective... And yet I still feel the urge now and again to pop in the dvd and relish in its high points:

• Dawson from the Creek (that's James Van Der Beek as the American Psycho's brother!) as an obnoxious drug dealer constantly sneering at the camera!
• Victor's speedy debaucherous romp through Europe!
• Two guys jumping on a bed lip-syncing to "Faith" while their moms drink and pop pills!
• Guest stars Fred Savage and Paul Williams as Dr. Phibes!
  

I love it! But I can't look you in the eyes right now.

Our first look at Iron Man?

Snagged this from /Film, an unconfirmed first pic from Jon Favreau’s IRON MAN.


It bears a vague resemblance to the original armour design.


True or fake???

How'd it get burned?! HOW'D IT GET BURNED?!

Director Neil LeBute faces his critics:

When I put Nic Cage in a bear suit, I know there's some potential for humor there! [Laughs.]

Let's remember the original shall we?

This blog needs more robots!

I need a Region 0 dvd player: Reason #1

FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT

I saw this film last year at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and it is virtually impossible to explain it to anyone! Here's what I've come up with: Imagine you wake up one day in Japan, not knowing how you arrived and still a little groggy from the chloroform. There's a tv on in the room, but someone keeps changing the channel before you can grasp the gist of any particular show. That's what it felt like to me, and I loved it! Unfortunately, this wacky surreal odyssey is only available as a region 2 dvd.

It's a Kafka high. You feel like a bug.

Zombie job market at all time low

My Easter Sunday diabolic double feature!

THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z

DANGER: DIABOLIK

This is what you want, this is what you get...

Twitch reports that a proper dvd version may finally be released.

GRINDHOUSE review

It's two movies for the price of one! It's four trailers for movies that don't exist! (Yet?) And yes, it's a big bag of gory, sleazy, retro fun! Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are attempting to show us their version of a 'grindhouse' movie as well as emulate the actual experience of watching a double feature in a sleazy old theatre where the film prints were raggedy and worn out, and a creaky unmaintained projector might burn a hole through the film before your very eyes.

Our first feature is Robert Rodriguez's PLANET TERROR, a manic and extremely wet ode to the zombie apocalypse we all hoped would happen in the 80's, cheesy synth score and all. It's easy to see that this will be the overall favorite of the two films, considering it's almost entirely one payoff after another of outrageous and copious blood, action, and cringe-worthy humour. Besides, how can you go wrong when you have a go-go dancer with a machine-gun leg? So yes, it's fun as all heck! That being said, it's problem is that you have too many characters running around who we really don't get to know or care about, and you almost feel like Rodriquez is parodying his own films. It's another case where the action is carrying the story, not the characters.

Next up is Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF, his 70's flavoured mash-up of fast car/girl revenge film. It's pure Tarantino in its long stretches of geek-cool dialogue and film buff references. In a great performance by Kurt Russell we get Stuntman Mike, a killer with a car instead of a knife, stalking two groups of young women. It's a slow build up to the 'white-hot juggernaut at 200 miles per hour!" we've been promised, and considering the almost constant chaotic pace of the previous feature it may seem even slower. This will no doubt be the rally cry of its dejecters. I have to seriously wonder though what we'd all feel about it if seen on it's own and not as part of a double feature? That being said, there is some great action in between all the chit-chat, especially in the stunt work of Zoe Bell, who in a nice bit of casting actually plays herself.

The fake trailers are great little gems, the scratched up and damaged look of the film is a nice reminder of an age before our obsession with digital perfection, and the missing reels will infuriate in the best possible way. GRINDHOUSE does succeed in conveying an experience at the movies that has never been seen in your gaudy and shiny multiplex, and it's well worth it.

The remakes keep coming...

Here's the first trailer for Rob Zombie's Halloween
I'll reserve judgment on this until I've actually seen the film (novel concept I think) but plenty of people have already been ranting.

R.I.P. Bob Clark

A little closer to Southland

Despite the overall beatdown Richard Kelly received last year in Cannes over the work-in-progress version of Southland Tales, I can't help but be happy to hear that we are finally a little closer to seeing the finished product.
Straight from the director's mouth (or at least his MySpace blog):

So we have finally gotten the greenlight from Sony for the additional
round of visual effects for Southland Tales. This is VERY GOOD NEWS for the film!
We will now be able to finish the film properly. Phew!
The film will be completely finished for the first public screening
sometime mid-summer.

Until then, I'll look back to that fateful night I met a giant bunny-rabbit named Frank.

This trailer is trippin' me out!

Sharpening my pen...

In anticipation of seeing Grindhouse tonight, here are some previous reviews that were posted online elsewhere:

Altered
Blood and Chocolate
Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms
The Number 23
Rocky Balboa
Night at the Museum
Eragon

And check out this sweet still from Edgar Wright's (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) fake Grindhouse trailer, DON'T.

Isabelle Adjani loves squid, literally!

Sex was weird in the 80's, weird and scary!

Thankfully this remake has stalled... for now!

Tomorrow night I get to sneak into the GRINDHOUSE! Keeping my expectations lowered.

It's a blog about film, you know, for the kids...

Well, since I've decided this blog is going to be all about my obsession with film, I'm going to post an old movie poster every day, just because it strikes my fancy.
Editorial note: Never use turn of phrase "strikes my fancy" again.