Category Archives: Uncategorized
Trailer for Captain America Winter Soldier gives us the Cap we missed from The Avengers
I enjoyed the first Captain America movie, so I wasn’t really looking forward to or lamented, the return of Captain America, but I was bummed he had such a shitty showing in The Avengers. His slow build could be a good thing, down the road, but slow doesn’t always mean careful, but they do seem to be taking their time with his storyline, but enough of this this babbling. I thoroughly enjoyed this new trailer for Captain America: Winter Soldier, not because I could name off all the new characters being introduced to this franchise cause I can’t, but because it just looked good and seemingly better than the THOR sequel and I am sick of Samuel L. always being the good guy. I think he does asshole much better.
The film stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johanssen, Cobie Smulders, Georges St-Pierre, Frank Grillo, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp, Maximiliano Hernández, Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson. Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens April 4, 2014.
After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.
Trailer for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel Starring Ralph Fiennes arrives
Wes Anderson…what can I say about his films? He never veers from the old/adolescent, protagonist, his films have all the same angles and cast for that fact and Mark Motherbaugh is always a shoe-in for the soundtrack. So why do we love his films? Could it be because he get’s amazing talent to do characters that they would otherwise never get a chance to play? Maybe it’s because we want to see what the chap has up his sleeve visually.
For me, it’s all of the above. Since Rushmore (the 1998 film starring Jason Schwartzman) I have been a fan of his dark and dry humor, his seemingly flippant attitude towards death, the awkward sex scenes and his need to make humans look silly. He’s a modern day storyteller, minus the rocking chair. As a writer, I am always amazed at how he juggles so many character’s in his films. I can barely handle one, in my sophomoric attempts at writing a script. Of course, he’s famous enough to have others help him, which is what I need, so if anybody would love to give me some lessons on developing character’s in a movie please hit me back.
BEHOLD…the trailer for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel starring Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Léa Seydoux, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and introducing Tony Revolori. The film is currently set for a March 17, 2014 release.
Related articles
- You: Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ to open doors in March (latimes.com)
- Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ Poster Released (variety.com)
- First Poster for Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel;’ Trailer on Thursday (slashfilm.com)
- Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ Gets Release Date; Trailer on Thursday (slashfilm.com)
- Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (thirtyfourflavours.wordpress.com)
Brutally violent trailer for Raze starring Zoe Bell and Rachel Nichols arrives
Well finally Zoe is getting her flick. Zoe Bell, as you all know, is the famous stunt woman who worked on such films as Kill Bill, Inglorious Bastards, Iron Man and many many more. She’s 35, cute, all bad in this awesome trailer! Raze is directed by Josh C. Waller ,from a screenplay written by Robert Beaucage, and a story by Beaucage, Kenny Gage & Josh C. Waller. The story, as explained by Zoe, is about…
” 50 women that are kidnapped and held captive and forced to fight to the death. They all have a loved one that’s being held ransom so if we don’t fight, our loved one dies. If we lose, our loved one dies, so basically literally forced to fight to the death.”
Working with director Quentin Tarantino, most of her career, will come in handy in this Graindhouse style flick. It’s got any and everything,fans of exploitation films, could want. Minus the gratuitous breasts. That’s Zoe..all class.
Raze stars Zoe Bell, Rachel Nichols, Tracie Thoms, Sherilyn Fenn, Doug Jones, Bailey Anne Borders, Rebecca Marshall, Adrienne Wilkinson and Allene Quincy.
The film premiered at this years NYCC 2013 and at the Tribeca Film Festival. IFC Midnight will release Raze in theaters and on VOD starting January 10th early next year.
Related articles
- Furious New Raze One-Sheet (dreadcentral.com)
- Zoe Bell gets her fight on in scene from ‘Raze’ – EXCLUSIVE VIDEO AND PHOTO (insidemovies.ew.com)
- Watch Raze Full Movie Streaming Online (fullmovieonline8.wordpress.com)
- Watch Raze Online Free Streaming in HD (moviecuk.wordpress.com)
- Watch Raze Full Stream Movie (watchingonlinemovie.wordpress.com)
Event Horizon…still viable science fiction/ horror thirteen years later
Not many horror films from the nineties held up as well as the P.W.S Anderson science fiction/horror Event Horizon. Having just dusted off my copy and given it another look for MITNG’s 31/31…it still gives me the creeps. The film contained a strong cast, an excellent soundtrack and a stunning art director. Often times, with films set in the future, the difficulties lie in trying to convince the viewer that the world exist, but with Event Horizon the execution was flawless. In the late nineties we were only testing the waters of our computer animation prowess and with the budget that this film had, it would have been easy to over play a hand, but the end result was a beautiful blend of cgi and practical effects, thus creating one hell of a scare.
The film opens on our anti hero Dr. William Wier (Sam Neill) as he violently awakes from a horrendous nightmare. He’s aboard a vessel commanded by Captain Miller (Lawrence Fishburne). The two, along with a crew comprised of a doctor, an engineer etc, have been pulled out of a long furlough to conduct a search and rescue on a vessel, The Event Horizon, that has been missing for seven years. Where the ships been for that long, no one knows, but what we do know is the vessel was the subject of a new piece of machinery, that would allow for light travel, by means of folding space. The machine aboard the vessel used to do it was invented by Dr. Wier.
As they search for survivors and clues to where it’s been, they soon realize that something supernatural is aboard the ship, something that was brought back from wherever the ship was. This “something” begins digging into the crews worst fears, slowly turning them on each other.
I’ll be the first to admit that the film does tap into the Ridley Scott Alien franchise with certain scenes and positioning of characters, but it does so in a way as to not disrupt the storyline. If the script or it’s actors teetered one iota during pre and production, this would have been a travesty, but in the end, honesty will out.
As I said in the title of this post ,”the stakes are still high”, what I mean by that is, and some may disagree with me, but I was invested. I was invested thirteen years ago and I’m invested now. It still strikes at the core of super creepy cinema and here’s why. I am a fan of time travel and I’m also a fan of the unexplained or anomalies. I remember watching the 1984 film Buckaroo Banzai and totally being turned on by the scene when Peter Weller‘s car drives through the mountain. Something snapped inside me and had I had the brain capacity, it might’ve sent me on a path toward a degree in quantum physics, but I think I was more in awe of the potential for us as humans to stumble upon other universes within our own, a quest that I’m not alone in. Even Tibetan monks believe that inter dimensional travel can be achieved through meditation. Of course I’m talking about science, but you get my meaning.
Event Horizon touches on this subject, albeit lightly, but it added to my bubbling curiosity over this theory and thus I was sold the minute Sam Neil mentioned anything about dimensions. I don’t believe that makes me bias cause there are millions who enjoyed this film for both it’s horror and it’s science fiction.
Now about the Gravity Machine…
Conceptually, it’s one of the prettiest and most horrific props I’ve ever seen in film. Everything about the machine, as well as the room that houses it, looked like it could kill you. With everything being so science fiction up to this moment there wasn’t anyone who didn’t expect to see something sleek with fancy buttons and digital displays, but what we got was quite the opposite and totally sets the tone for what happens. I like films that makes me think outside the box and this one did with this machine. Along with that, there was this huge hallway that attached the gravity machine to the rest of the ship, that although simple, was a nightmarish bit of science fiction, that I remember took me a few days to shake off and I don’t know why. Either it’s coincidence or the art director has a masters in human psychology cause every frame was eerie.
The last thing I want to bring up about this film is the body count. Horror films tend to always push the envelope when it comes to killing and in actuality director P.W.S Anderson would have been right to give us every kind of kill imaginable, but he didn’t. He did what a lot of horror films don’t, he gave everyone a fighting chance. Several scenes in this film could have ended with supporting cast members dying horrific deaths, but that would’ve cheapened things and in my opinion, death isn’t scary in horror films (contrary to popular belief)…we’ve scene it all before. If not on the internet, then in real life…no, what’s worst is loneliness. Death is so absolute, but when characters are kept alive, for whatever reason, it tricks the viewer into believing that the characters “hell” is only beginning. This is mindful and not thoughtless, film making.
Without spoiling the plot, for those who haven’t seen this classic, it will constantly surprise you with the choices the director made with regards to who survives and who dies. It’s clever and not cliche. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever watched a viable horror film like this one, but this will always stand as one of my favorites.
It’s this and everything else I mentioned, that makes this one of MITNG’s 31 films for the 31 days of Halloween.
Related articles
- New Images Suggest Event Horizon Could Have Been Awesome (io9.com)
- Movie Review: Event Horizon (blackoccultmacabre.wordpress.com)
- Event Horizon: Cut Scenes Show a Whole New Side To Horror Movie (grizzlybomb.com)
- Event Horizon (1997) (atthemovieswithsilver.wordpress.com)
- EVENT HORIZON w/ To The Grave, Caitlan Can Wait & In Dreams Like These @ Musicland, September 2013 (darkknight47.wordpress.com)
Beyond The Black Rainbow is true 80′s horror
Originally I had intended to watch this movie at a local art house theater, but I saw that it was available on Amazon on Demand, so I decided to enjoy the movie in bed with my wife, dog and laptop. What you notice immediately about Beyond The Black Rainbow is that it draws heavily upon the 80′s science fiction horror aesthetic. It’s easy to see why it has been compared to such films as THX 1138, A Clockwork Orange, The Hunger and pretty much all the works of David Cronenberg, but not to be caught up in the smoke and mirrors there still has to be a good story…right? Searching for a viable plot in such artistry can sometimes be a daunting task, but you soon realize that the formula is the same, but it’s just being presented like a sarcophagus at a museum or vestige of some by-gone era that the director Panos Cosmatos (son of George P. Cosmatos, who directed Tombstone, Cobra, and Rambo: First Blood Part II) has meticulously decided to pay homage to. BTBR speaks in metaphors, the viewer is meant to take something from every single frame, the director even goes as far as beginning these super short scenes with fade in and outs of the grittiest red instead of the usual black.
Right now’s when you’d probably like for me to explain what the fuck this film’s about…
Deep within the mysterious Arboria Institute, a beautiful girl (Eva Allan) is held captive by a scientist, Dr. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers). Her mind is controlled by a sinister technology (a mysterious pyramid-shaped light). Speechlessly, she waits for her next session with the deranged Dr. Nyle. She escapes her cell under the watchful eye of Dr. Nyle peering through video monitors. She journeys through the darkest reaches of the Institute but Nyle wonʼt easily part with his most gifted and dangerous creation.
It all makes for some amazing vintage horror done with a committed cast and one hell of an art director Antonio Colin and costume designer Kathi Moore. Shot entirely in Vancouver, the story travels along an analog path of science verging on insanity. As we learn more about the Arboria Institute we find out about or at least we think we find out about what the institutes real mission is and that’s when BTBR begins tinkering with the idea of the occult and going places with the storyline that all good 80′s horrors can’t do without. Like Alejandro Jodorowsky’s psychedelic masterpiece Holy Mountain, BTBR toys, ever so slightly, with god/devil themes in the form of glowing masonic style triangles and the Sentionauts (ominous albino baby faced worker bees or minions for the Arboria Institute) but doesn’t try to be what it’s not thus elevating the films level of genius by acknowledging the Satanic prime directive and moving on. It has to be said before I continue that the soundtrack is near flawless. Panos obviously knew that if the image was the vehicle the music had to be the engine so he did what any film/indie video director does and enlist the help of none other than Jeremy Schimdt from the synth rock band Black Mountain to pepper this art piece in a blanket of moogness, add that sound to the brilliant cinematography of Norm Li and you have a film fit for any classic VHS library.
The following Interview with Panos Cosmatos in it’s entirety is available @ Dork Shelf
DS: How involved were you with the score because it felt so integral to the mood and tone? I’d imagine it was something you wanted to be heavily involved in.
PC: Well, Jeremy Schmidt from Black Mountain wrote the score and has an amazing record collection of soundtracks and synth music from the 70s and 80s. He’s very influenced by that time and writes this amazing music that he records on analogue synthesizers. Once I discovered him, I really wanted him to score it. I showed him a rough cut and he really wanted to do it. I think he drew influences from a lot of not just soundtracks, but different artists from that era. John Carpenter was definitely part of that, but there were so many. I don’t know, our musical sensibilities were so close that I gave him some guidance, but generally I just let him create and it was like Christmas. Because I’m a fan of his, it was amazing to just to get to hear him create music and put it on my movie.
Overall the film’s formula isn’t anything something we’ve never seen before, but what Panos has done was added more to an era of films that had no idea what is was then or what it would become.
DS: How difficult was it to find financing for a project as experimental and out there as this? I’d imagine there would have been a lot of scratched heads while you were pitching it around.
PC: Well, I self financed it, but that didn’t stop people from scratching their heads when I was trying to talk them into working on it (laughs). The people that responded to it responded to it very strongly and wanted to be involved. It was just hard to find those people at times. The only reference they had for my work was a music video that was online. So that would show them that perhaps that mentality combined the script could be something interesting.
BTBR is what was to be expected of the son of the director of COBRA and seeing the world through his goggles and knowing the urge to go totally modern and sell this to the studios and not doing it, is a feat within itself and should be celebrated in this age of overdone. I bet no one could have seen this rebirth of 80′s coming and most won’t understand it or they think they will, but due to their lack of love for films, won’t be able to place a proper finger on it and that’s what I believe directors like Panos Cosmatos and Ti West (House Of The Devil) has set out to create…enigmas. Films without a home, but stand alone as works of art never to be looked upon as a movies in the Hollywood sense. BTBR is pure aural and eye candy for lovers of great science fiction (notice how I didn’t write 80′s science fiction). You won’t find me trying to even coddle those less likely to watch this movie cause there’s a time and place for everything and unlike some films from the past this one harnesses it’s own power, and because of modern technology, will be less susceptible to degradation/wear and tear unlike it’s 80′s predecessors, and that’s a bit of next gen that I’m sure even Panos Cosmatos is happy with.
Related articles
- _beyond the black rainbow (nomadicpigmythoughts.wordpress.com)
Guillermo del Toro’s new book Cabinet of Curiosities is a must have
Every great auteur has a blue print or diary, of his or her plans to create something special. The director,Guillermo del Toro, is no different. He’s been drafting up ideas as long as Tim Burton has been sketching and now he’s releasing his ideas in a new book Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
If the tradition during Halloween was to give gifts, this would be the perfect one. The book contains tons of sketches and writings, that chronicle Guillermo’s thought process during such films as Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim. But whether it’s Halloween or Christmas, this book is guaranteed to blow minds.
Press release:
Over the last two decades, writer-director Guillermo del Toro has mapped out a territory in the popular imagination that is uniquely his own, astonishing audiences with Cronos, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, and a host of other films and creative endeavors. Now, for the first time, del Toro reveals the inspirations behind his signature artistic motifs, sharing the contents of his personal notebooks, collections, and other obsessions. The result is a startling, intimate glimpse into the life and mind of one of the world’s most creative visionaries. Complete with running commentary, interview text, and annotations that contextualize the ample visual material, this deluxe compendium is every bit as inspired as del Toro is himself.
Contains a foreword by James Cameron, an afterword by Tom Cruise, and contributions from other luminaries, including Neil Gaiman and John Landis, among others.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities releases on October 29 and will run you a cool 60.00. You can pre-order the book now on Amazon for $36
Related articles
- Guillermo del Toro’s incredible ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ sketchbooks to be published (dangerousminds.net)
- Guillermo del Toro Invites You Into His Cabinet of Curiosities (dreadcentral.com)
- Guillermo del Toro to release illustrated book (miamiherald.com)
- Trailer for the Book GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CRIOSITIES Goes inside the Filmmaker’s Legendary Notebooks (collider.com)
- Guillermo del Toro to release illustrated book (thenewstribune.com)
Michael Jackson’s THRILLER video done with Legos
When I clicked on this button a few websites ago, I kinda was expecting to see the whole damn thriller video in Legos, but we only got the intro. I get it, it’s a lot of fucking work so perhaps we will get the full thing just in time for Halloween. Now wouldn’t that be a treat boys and girls? For what it’s worth enjoy the first few minutes of this legendary video re imagined by director Annette Jung.
Annette Jung’s Website
World of Warcraft movie get’s a release date
It always scares me when Hollywood takes on a franchise as big as World of Warcraft. So many questions run through my head as we hope the film, based on the beloved MMORPG and is played by millions, lives up to the legend it has become today. I’ve only seen one of Duncan Jone’s film, Moon starring Sam Rockwell, and yes…it was great, but would I have giving him the keys to Azeroth without seeing a smidgen of that epic-ness in something he’s done? Nope.
I’m not saying he won’t do justice to this film. One need only to look at him to tell that he’s definitely spent some time on the leveling grounds, but here’s the big question…what can World of Warcraft bring to the table that The Lord of the Rings hasn’t? Orcs, Trolls, Elves, Monsters, Wizards…haven’t those persona’s been brought to amazing life by the maestro Peter Jackson. I realize that there are a ton of other aspects/races, in World of Warcraft, but let’s be honest, WOW is primarily comprised of the previously mentioned, but perhaps that’s where Duncan will find his niche, by exploring the less obvious.
The reach is wide, as far as fans of WOW are concerned, but the hard part will be getting the women, who’ve watched their significant others, destroy their relationships on WOW…to go, not only that, to spend 12 dollars on a film, based on a game, that she personally, would like to see go away forever. I kinda feel for the women in this situation. One need only look at Pacific Rim to see the effects of too much testosterone. Duncan, if he’s smart, will gear this movie towards the women. There are several story lines, within WOW, that lend themselves to the sensitive, I would pick one of them and roll with it…at least this is what I would do.
Sorry…I meant to tell you about the release date.
Via. (Firstshowing.net)
Legendary & Universal Pictures have announced a 2015 release date for the upcoming World of Warcraft movie being directed by Duncan Jones (of Moon and Source Code). The movie, titled simply Warcraft, will arrive in theaters on December 18th, 2015 – no other major movies are scheduled for that December yet (however the last two Hobbit movies arrive on that weekend in 2013 and 2014). As we reported previously, casting is now underway (expect more news soon) and shooting begins early 2014. An early PVP sequence was shown at Comic-Con this summer, but specific story details are still unknown. The script is by Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond, Seventh Son) and Blizzard is intimately involved.
Related articles
- ‘World of Warcraft’ Movie Scheduled For December 2015 (worthplaying.com)
- Legendary Pictures reveal World of Warcraft movie release date (incgamers.com)
- World of Warcraft Movie Gets Release Date (escapistmagazine.com)
- World of Warcraft movie to premiere in 2015 (massively.joystiq.com)
Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven
For the past three weeks, I’ve attempted to write this review about five times with the same events happening. First, I create a strong opening line that describes my feeling about the album, followed by a point that talks about the artist, but by the time I get around to actually describing why I feel that way about the music, I cannot discover the words I want to use. Claustrophobic? Spacey? Droning? Jagged? It just goes to show how professional and experienced I am at this. When I think I have it all together, I’m thrown a curve ball in the shape of R Plus Seven and my confidence is shot completely. Not to worry! This time I’ll finish my thought before I’m stolen the words.
Daniel Lopatin is a Brooklyn-based experimental musician, who goes by the name Oneohtrix Point Never when recording his.. music. Now Lopatin is renown in the music world for really pushing the boundaries, not by appropriateness, or by outrageous stunts, but by releasing just plain odd music that sells quite well for an indie artist. I can recall my first review ever being the 2011 album, Replica, and I wasn’t quite sure if I enjoyed it or not. I mean, I gave it a good review, but for a long time I wasn’t convinced that what I was listening was music. Now Lopatin isn’t the most experimental musician out there, but he definitely creates amazing patchworks with odd layouts.
R Plus Seven is Lopatin’s fourth record, and it utilizes a lot of plunderphonics from Replica, but with the unexpectedness of Returnal. What’s so interesting about R Plus Seven is how its Lopatin’s oddest album yet, but also the catchiest. Now catchy doesn’t go hand in hand with OPN, but hear me out. On the opening, “Boring Angel”, a rumbling organ note is held until, yes you read correctly, a steady click from the snare head. Another is how the climax of “Still Life” actually follows hook with synth-based riff of chords. “Zebra” also opens with a staccato of high pitched notes that continue to build and layer. I can run these examples for ages, but that’s the excitement behind this album. It catches you off guard even if you think you know what’s about to happen. Think Walter White’s mind in music.
I would say R Plus Seven is the perfect soundtrack for Breaking Bad’s final season. It has the eeriness of the dark and dreary moments, as well as the flourishing, somewhat happy(er?) scenes. I would never describe Lopatin’s music as happy, but it’s content, much like Vince Gilligan’s intention with his epic show. The way his music on this album shifts from quietly chugging along on a long, droning note and immediately jumps into a whole new sound is frightening. At points (“Along”), it can be hard to handle. I get so attached to the one repeating sound that I feel taken advantage of when Lopatin just dumps a great idea and moves on. It took many listens to realize that R Plus Seven has many dynamics and layers to it.
Now I completely understand when I get a comment that says, “This is hipster shit”. I get it. I don’t think I fully grasp what Lopatin’s intentions are with R Plus Seven. It’s uneasy, awkward, aggravated, at points pure noise, but what draws me back time and time again is the unique feeling of home and warmth from his nostalgic sounds. Lopatin understands himself better than we do, and we just have to deal with it. I feel that he doesn’t expect us, nor does he want us to think ‘I like your music because I know what its like’ because we don’t. We all have different experiences, and Lopatin is providing us the soundtrack to assist with them.