| The Gingerdead Man and Submarine |
[28 May 2012|11:51pm] |
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The Gingerdead Man:
The Gingerdead Man stars Gary Busey as a petty criminal and murderer who comes back from the grave (following his execution) in the form of a homicidal gingerbread man. Sure, the plot is absurd and the only thing even more illogical is the character actions (whose behaviour is stretched to ridiculous levels to keep the plot on track) but thats partly why I love films like this. It may all be played with a straight face but everyone involved knows how bonkers it is and we can all use a little bonkers now and then.
Submarine:
Submarine is a brilliantly written and performed coming of age comedy drama. The Welsh setting, razor sharp, off-beat script and fantastic gallery of grounded, fascinating characters keep this deeply original film from feeling like anything Ive seen before. Its wonderful.
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| "HOW THE WEST WAS WON" (1962) Review |
[27 May 2012|10:08pm] |
"HOW THE WEST WAS WON" (1962) Review
I wrote this REVIEW of "HOW THE WEST WAS WON", the 1962 Academy Award nominated western that starred Debbie Reynolds, George Peppard and Carroll Baker.
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| Reviews Of Tobe Hooper Movies! |
[27 May 2012|07:45pm] |
As part of my series of Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie reviews, I'm also trying to work my way through the rest of Tobe Hooper's backcatalogue. As with last time, I finish this post up with a bonus review, so on top of reviews for "Salem's Lot" and "Poltergeist" I have also written a review for George Romero's "Creepshow".
If you missed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reviews, I review the first film here (after the poll results) and I review the second and third films in that series here.
Salem's Lot (1979)
I’m generally missing out made-for-tv films in my selection, however ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) rhoda_rants did this version of “Salem’s Lot” in one of the older marathons. Though, the actual review wasn’t so positive, one of the vampire icons she created at the end had me pretty intrigued. “Salem’s Lot” is about a house where mysterious things are happening. A writer who has returned to the town is planning to write about it, convinced that the building is an evil place that attracts evil forces towards it. This is a Stephen King adaptation which tries to tie the vampire mythology to an everyday modern setting.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
Poltergeist (1982)
I’ve heard plenty of people saying that this film is basically a Spielberg film and that Tobe Hooper’s task was mainly pointing the camera occasionally. I don’t think that is fair at all. This was released in the same year as E.T. and I personally cannot stand E.T. I can see some similar touches in the way this film has been made, but I feel like much of it is due to Spielberg's role as editor (at which stage Hooper was not involved).
( Read more under the fake cut... )
Creepshow (1982)
Okay, here's an unrelated extra. Salem's Lot was a Stephen King adaptation and Poltergeist had elements of comedy, so on a similat theme I present George Romero's "Creepshow". It's a combination of horror comedy stories, including one particularly awesome one actually featuring Stephen King in a central acting role. Turns out that he's really good too!
( Read more under the fake cut... )
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
On top of this I absolutely must encourage everyone to check out rhoda_rants' Tim Burton retrospective. I've been hotly anticipating this and must note that Rhoda is a much better writer than I am. Her first entry is in regards to two Tim Burton short films which are both available on youtube. Please check out rhoda_rants' first entry of her Tim Burton retrospective here.
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| Men In Black 3 |
[27 May 2012|06:14pm] |
I must admit to some very mixed feelings when I heard about this sequel. The first film was fantastic fun and the sequel that already exists was a bit hit-and-miss so a third film, so long after the earlier films left me feeling both excited and weary in almost equal parts. Luckily the makers do an okay job of balancing the older, familiar elements the fans love with enough new stuff to freshen it up and prevent it feeling like a tired retread of the same ground. I havent been bowled over by the film the belly laughs (that were so readily available in the first film) are hard to come by here but its still a mostly quite enjoyable ride with some great comic performances, especially from Josh Brolin, Bill Hader (in a superb Cameo) and Jemaine Clement who demonstates what a difference having a proper baddie makes to these films.
The film was never going to replicate the genius of the first film but this was quite a respectable stab at a sequel
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| "MEN IN BLACK III" (2012) Photo Gallery |
[26 May 2012|10:18pm] |
"MEN IN BLACK III" (2012) Photo Gallery
Here is a GALLERY featuring images from the new movie, "MEN IN BLACK III". Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, the movie stars Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Emma Thompson.
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| The Texas Chainsaw Marathon - Part II |
[24 May 2012|08:39pm] |
Last time I looked at the votes for the next horror series to review and Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the winner. In the post where I counted down the votes I also reviewed the very first of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. Now it's sequel time!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
The DVD cover is entirely taken up by Dennis Hopper, but it looks like that may have been a later decision, rather like the prominent position of Jennifer Aniston on the front of the DVD for "Leprechaun". Sure, Hopper wasn't exactly unknown when Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was released, but his main credits up to this point had been as the quiet and heavily bearded guy in "Easy Rider" and admittedly his brief but significant appearance as the journalist in "Apocalypse Now". However in the very same year as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was released, Hopper was to make a big splash with his central role in Lynch's "Blue Velvet" so the decision to make him seem like the undisputed star of the film may have come pretty quickly. However, in the film the character the audience is really supposed to relate to is a local radio DJ calling herself "Stretch".
Dennis Hopper's character is more of a mysteriously outsider, but unfortunately Hopper doesn't appear to exude the same manic and unhinged performance that I so enjoyed in "Speed" and which I suspect can probably be found in "Blue Velvet" too.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
The last one had Dennis Hopper. Now this one has none other than *drumroll* Viggo Mortensen. I have as yet to see any DVD cover take proper advantage of this star power and certain Mr. Mortensen was not the big star he is now when he made this film. However, his move from Lord Of The Rings to a number of David Cronenberg films seems rather less odd now.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
The Loved Ones (2009)
Yes, I know I said that I was going to be reviewing Tobe Hooper films (and I do have some reviews coming up for other Tobe Hooper films), but watching these Texas Chainsaw Massacre films finally gave me the guts to finish "The Loved Ones", an Australian film that I had found myself too disgusted to finish. I had actually got pretty far it turns out, but a particular element was just too much for me. Having never seen "Hostel" this was the first movie that I could really call "torture porn". However, watching it now it feels like a more fitting successor to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Even watching the original, I found myself comforted by the fact that "The Loved Ones" had already been much more shocking.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
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| "GOSFORD PARK" (2001) Review |
[23 May 2012|12:07pm] |
"GOSFORD PARK" (2001) Review
I wrote this REVIEW of the 2001 Academy Award winning movie, "GOSFORD PARK". Featuring an all-star cast, the movie was directed by Robert Altman.
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| "Avengers Assemble" Review |
[15 May 2012|09:49pm] |
Avengers Assemble (2012)
Spoiler-free review, as always. (Though there may be some mild spoilers for Lord Of The Rings.)
I must admit that I was initially rather sceptical about this one. How hyped people were for this film must have some relation to how familiar they are with the comics and how much they enjoyed the past five Marvel Studios movies. For me that comes to "not at all" and "middling to good levels of enjoyment", so I wasn't exactly buzzing with excitement. When everyone else started raving about it though, you can be damn sure I was keen to see what I was missing.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
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| Dark Shadows...In a nutshell... |
[13 May 2012|05:32pm] |
I really wanted to like this movie, Michelle Pfeiffer is yummy as always, but this movie was a C+ at best. Not horrible, but I would wait until it came out on DVD, if I were you.
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| Movie Reviews! |
[13 May 2012|01:32pm] |
Looks like it's violence against women week, with reviews for Paddy Considine's directorial debut "Tyrannosaur" about a woman suffering from domestic abuse and David Fincher's adaptation of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"....
Tyrannosaur (2011)
I had been pretty excited to see this, but on the other hand I was a little worried by it. On the one hand it stars Eddie Marsan who I think is a brilliant and wonderfully versatile actor as well as Olivia Colman who I mainly know for comedy, but who had always seemed like a capable actress and had received accolades for her performance here. On the other hand, this is a film about domestic violence. In order to treat that subject properly it HAS to be harrowing and I don't really like my movies to be harrowing. I mainly look to movies for entertainment, albeit thought-provoking entertainment.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Let me start this review by pointing out that I LOVED the books. I know plenty of people think they are overrated and heck I might not even deny that. I'm not exactly a big reader so there could be much better material out there of which I am unaware, but I absolutely loved the way that the books built up this protagonist who is both a victim and a hero. She is both simulataneously for the simple reason that she has learnt that the only person she can rely on to end her victimisation is herself. The storyline isn't even about her learning to trust others, but rather about the truth coming out and her needing to make use of those who'd consider themselves friends when things come to a head. Lisbeth Salander does not trust authority, so she uses her powerful intellect to find ways to do without it and sometimes that involves using brute force.
( Read more under the fake cut... )
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| "HUGO" (2011) Review |
[11 May 2012|09:17pm] |
"HUGO" (2011)Review
I wrote this REVIEW of "HUGO", Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Brian Selznick's 2008 novel. The movie stars Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz and Ben Kingsley.
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| Dark Shadows |
[11 May 2012|10:27pm] |
Just saw the movie and liked it. The mansion was very detailed. Only a couple of problems: 1. Kept hearing music that sounded like Phantom of the Opera.
2. The teen girl had headphones on an was carrying her tape recorder like it was a Walkman. Could have really happened in the 70's, but it looked weird.
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