Tagged: Movie
Live Action Quicksilver vs. Quicksilver vs. Flash!!!
Today we got a sneak peak at some pictures of The Avengers: Age of Ultron Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. There was some serious outrage there on The X-Men: Days of Future Past version of our favorite speedster-I can’t say I was too impressed with him! So we now get a look at the Whedon version, who to me looks kinda like a regular dude with some fancy Nike running shirt on. So I can’t say he looks great, I can’t say that he looks like a complete D-bag, well maybe a little. But first lets refresh our memories of what Quicksilver really looks like:
Here’s another older Quicksilver pic, by the master John Byrne:
Now let’s refresh our memory with the dip shit rollerblader from 2001 Evan Peters’ Quicksilver, wow I’m still amazed at how fucking stupid he looks:
Now the new pic of Avengers: average Joe too much hydrogen peroxide hair Nike neighborhood jogger dude Aaron Taylor-Johnson version:
What do you think? Is the Avengers version better? I’ll have to say yes, though it’s far from wowing me. Personally I’d have to say this one here impresses me most! DC wins this time with a great looking live action rendition of their own speedster The Flash!!
Hell, DC’s 1990 version of The Flash looks better than both of the Quicksilvers! This guy really looks like the Flash! And he’s got a huge bulge!! Way to go again DC!
What do YOU think?!!
New Horror Short “Pity” is an Ex-Lover’s Nightmare!
I had the pleasure to check out the new short Horror film “Pity” from Head Trauma Productions & up and coming Wisconsin (my home state!) director John Pata, whose first feature film “Dead Weight” I was quite fond of. Pity may only be about five and a half minutes long (minus the credits) but it’s got enough rigid tension to stick with you long after viewing. Similar to Dead Weight in that it doesn’t rely on gore to drill it’s way into your brain, rather it’s a much more psychological approach to an impending doom on the horizon.
Pata has quite a way with getting into your head without actually showing you too much, rather he leaves much to the imagination which often times if done correctly is a much better payoff. This one is a simple look into the mind of a man who’s reached rock bottom as he deals with a break up with some one he developed an incredibly unhealthy obsession with. It takes place almost entirely in his car during a thunderstorm, where he suffers from a mental breakdown and slowly reveals his plans for his ex later that night.
The scary thing about it all is that most off of us have had a break up and many have had a crazy ex who just can’t let go. This goes to some dark places and makes you wonder just what that crazy ex of your own could be capable of! There’s a scene where he pulls out a picture of himself and his ex when they were happy together. It’s quite chilling as it looks like any average couple you might see together on the street. However the man looks like a completely different person now as his rage and jealousy have cleared transformed him into a monster.
The film is shot beautifully too but it’s jarring flashes of rage make you feel like you’re going a little nutty yourself. At this rate it really excites me to see what Pata will do next. I think this one should have been submitted to The ABC’S of Death 2, the anthology that covers a grim scenario from every letter of the alphabet done in short 5 minute segments. The first ABC’S of Death could have benefited from quality film-making like this. “Pity” would have been a far better installment than “P is for Pressure”. In fact there were really only about three that really impressed me at all from that first anthology making me question if I’ll even check out the second.
My only real problem with Pity was that I was hoping we’d get a glimpse of the outcome of the crazy ex boyfriend’s plans. I’d forgotten for a moment I was watching a short film with some hefty credits at the end. It almost felt like a trailer. That’s not a bad thing though as Pity did leave me wanting more. So this has me on the watch to see what’s next for. Part of me would love to see Pata go balls out with a full on, no holds barred, effects heavy horror flick given he has a decent budget to work with. I think he’s pretty well versed in fine character development and atmosphere, the some of the hardest parts of what makes a quality fright film. I think he could probably blend both styles of horror together quite nicely. However if he chooses to continue to give us more quality psychological horror I’ll most definitely be back for more! Wisconsin Represent!
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Action & Adventure Wes Anderson Style!
Wes Anderson has clearly outdone himself again with his new movie The Grand Budapest Hotel. It seems to me that Anderson is getting better with every new movie he releases lately. Moonrise Kingdom topped the list as my fave film from him, however I have to say I think this new entry takes the cake. To a certain degree you know what you’re in store for, something beautiful, funny and a little odd. I’m going as far to say that this much like Moonrise Kingdom is a full on comedy and a damn good one at that.
Great comedies are hard to come by these days and it seems Anderson has really upped the ante here again. It’s really less of an inside joke anymore as The Grand Budapest Hotel is likely to appeal to anyone and i mean that in the best way possible. It’s packed with laugh out loud moments and filled to the brim with amazing characters. Each of them with a cartoony charm, in a way it almost feels like an animated film as the characters are truly larger than life.
It’s also an excellent period piece as the bulk of the story takes place in the 1930’s. As you expect with Anderson it’s filled with rich, vibrant imagery and a fully compelling story. It follows the exploits of Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) the hotel’s concierge and his side kick “Zero”(Tony Revolori) the lobby boy. And what a team these two make.
The pair are truly charming together and Zero’s enthusiasm to serve the hotel’s need to his fullest and impress Gustave bring some hilarious scenarios to the table. Things get quite intriguing quickly Continue reading
“Stage Fright” Will Be the Best Scream Flick of the Year!
Just saw this awesome trailer today for “Stage Fright”, nope it’s not a remake of the Hitchcock movie of the 1950’s. This one looks more like it owes more to Wes Craven’s ‘Scream’ and I mean that in the best way possible! The trailer looks incredibly fun, packed full of action & plenty of thrills. I remember the first time I saw ‘Scream’ in the theater way back in 1996, it was like going to Disneyland-I mean it really felt like I was on roller coaster ride and the audience ate it up. It was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had in an actual theater. The movie had just the right amount of comedy, a cool unique concept and ton of scares but it wasn’t a sickening torture flick either. I’d go as far to say it was a perfect horror flick.
Now watching the trailer to Stage Fright is giving me that same feeling again, one which I think is most often missed these days in horror cinema. This is the first full feature from director Jerome Sable, but it looks like it’s going to re-energize the slasher film in a big way. For me a slasher movie has got to have something special going for it for me to even give it a chance. This one takes place at an upscale musical theater camp and involves a masked maniac who truly hate the genre-check this shit out! Oh yeah it also stars Minnie Driver & Meatloaf!
Also this is not to be confused with the 1980’s “Stage Fright” also known as “Deliria” or “Aquarius” with the killer with the Owl Head! But that one was pretty cool too!
‘Curse of the Wendigo’ Delivers the Chills!
The wendigo folklore is always intrigues me, I love most anything that has to do with the legend. I was pleasantly surprised when I recently picked up “The Curse of the Wendigo” which had completely gone under my radar when it was released here in the USA in 2011. What drew me in even more to this comic book was the artwork, which was done by The Walking Dead’s Charlie Adlard. It was cool seeing his artwork in full color and I’ll be the first to admit that when Tony Moore left TWD I really wasn’t a big fan of Adlard. Over time though his art has grown on me however The Walking Dead comic series has more recently become a bit of a bore.
I almost imagined I was reading a new Walking Dead story line, which felt pretty damn good. It can be pretty hard to disconnect when Charlie has done well over a hundred issues of TWD thus far. However the artwork is really the only thing similar, this story is a sweet and simple and It reminded me a bit of the movie “Ravenous” of which I am a huge fan of. The story takes place during World War I, French and German soldiers are forced to put aside their differences to try and take out an unseen force that’s slaughtering their men. The story is also a bit of a mystery as well and has a little more going for it than just blood and guts.
It’s a pretty cool little 64 page horror story that was a delight to read. Curse was originally released in Europe in 2009 and Dynamite released it here in 2011. I think this tale would make a great movie concept. The world needs more wendigo on the big screen anyway, I mean just how many wendigo movies are actually out there? Hmm…future blog post I think!
So If you’re looking for a creepy original graphic novel with some great artwork to check out give Curse of the Wendigo a try!
Step Aside Hank Pym, Cuz Here comes Antboy!
Just saw this neat little trailer for Denmark’s first superhero film – Antboy! This actually looks like a ton of fun, sure in the trailer it looks a little bit Spider-man-y as far as the origin story goes but this one is bound to be more fun than The Amazing Spider-man 2! This one is set for release in April 2014 and if anything it’ll be a neat little comedy.
I’d love to see some smaller studios bring to life some original or smaller scale comic book heroes, it’d be a great thing to start getting some good indie comic book based movies. I like a lot of the superhero movies, but I don’t love really any of them except for maybe The Avengers and the two Hellboy movies. Maybe this next string of movies will change my mind? In the mean time here’s a superhero movie that won’t piss off any fanboys…
Bryan Singer’s X-Men: In Need of a Serious Makeover!
Somebody call the Oprah-cuz we need to get these Bryan Singer Mutants in for an Extreme Makeover! Now I’m sure that I’m going to enjoy Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. I’m fully confident that it’s going to be maybe one of the best superhero flicks we’ve yet to see. I have good faith in Singer’s ability to bring some magic to the franchise he started. A reunion of sorts is almost always very exciting!
One thing though I’ve been noticing with all of these recently released photo stills from the upcoming movie is that their costumes are really starting to look…well….stupid. Frumpy maybe is the word? I’ve never been a huge fan of the whole slick cool guy black leather X-Men movie look but I’ve tolerated it. I will even say it worked for a while. However some of these costumes just look plain sad.
Maybe it’s just me? These costumes just don’t make the cut! At this point I’d really love to see a more classic look attempted. What would be the harm? It is a fictional comic book based movie. So why can’t we get a little more of the comic book in the look? I mean the costume’s colors could be way toned down. It doesn’t have to look all early 90’s Jim Lee or anything. I mean really this is the BEST they could come up with for Quicksilver? This is some wretched bullshit. He looks like a total tool. Somebody slap this guy now!
If this is the type of shit that we’re getting at this point in time I don’t see what the harm would be to try and give the X-Men their actual comic book costumes! It surely couldn’t get any worse than this! This is where The Avengers and the Marvel movies have gotten it right, The Avengers actually look like The Avengers! It worked! So why the hell can’t Fox get this shit dialed in? I think it’s time that we see the X-Men the way they were meant to be. At this point what’s there to lose? One of the main reasons I love comic books super heroes is because of their costumes.
I honestly can picture something like this being done today tastefully. So get with it Hollywood because your X-Men are in need of a serious makeover….
The Doppelganger Genre Gets a Good Solid Entry with “+1”!
Really now who does’t love a good doppelganger movie? Forget about that crappy 90’s Drew Barrymoore movie because last night I had the pleasure of watching “+1” and to my surprise it was pretty neat little flick. At first I was about to write this one off as another crappy teen horror movie but I’m glad I gave this one a chance to get it’s engine heated. The story revolves around around a few college kids who hit the party of the century one summer. Jam packed with irritating party goers, things get twilight zone-y pretty quickly as a meteor hits nearby and they begin to see duplicates of themselves roaming the party.
It gets a little confusing at times but really feels like a good extended episode of the Twilight Zone. It explores some interesting revelations as well by all who have attended the odd bash. Without giving to much away I’d say this a bit of a new, fresh spin on the whole doppelganger idea and it’s really best if you know as little as possible about the plot.
The movie was directed by Dennis Iliadis who also helmed the remake of “Last House on the Left” (which I haven’t seen and really have no interest to) yet “+1” is pretty mild on the blood and guts. The movie does have it’s shortcomings though as most of the characters look like they walked out of a Justin Beiber video and the party seems a little bit too “Mtv choreographed” at times. But hell, I haven’t been to a full on rager these days in quite some time, so as far as I know this could be how the kids are doing it these days. Either way this one was a neat little self contained sci-fi movie with some truly intriguing plot twists and turns. Check out +1 if you’re in dire need of a good ol’ fashioned doppelganger flick!
Dead Weight: A Zombie Apocalypse in America’s Dairyland!
I had the pleasure yesterday of watching ‘Dead Weight‘ a great little indie horror gem all the way from my home state of Wisconsin. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from this one and to be honest, I haven’t really seen too much in the way of cinema coming out of “America’s Dairyland”. I’d have to say that Dead Weight is much less of a horror movie than it is a drama set in an apocalyptic wasteland.
I could draw some comparisons obviously to The Walking Dead, as I’m fairly certain that writers and directors Adam Bartlett and John Pata are big fans (I’ve heard the DVD will feature artwork by original Walking Dead artist Tony Moore!) but this plays out as something much more than a mere carbon copy. Sure the story revolves around a small band of survivors of some sort of viral outbreak traveling a barren landscape and yeah they meet some ultra sketchy people along the way. What we are really witnessing is one man’s psychological breakdown as he desperately travels by foot to reunite with his lover in a small northern Wisconsin city.
The movie shows flashbacks of Charlie (Joe Belknap) and his girlfriend Samantha (Mary Lindberg) before tragedy struck while at the same time following him on his journey to reunite with her after these events. I really loved the contrast between the warm colorful flashbacks and the cold, grey, dismal look of Charlie’s journey in the aftermath. Who would’ve known that Wisconsin would make such a convincing setting for a zombie wasteland?
The film really looks great too, the locations chosen really give you a feeling of dread and isolation which makes it that much more tense when other survivors enter the equation. What also grabbed me was the tightly woven story, which I might add has it’s fair share of twists and turns, something I truly appreciate in my cinematic viewing when done effectively. The short explanation for what may have caused this tragedy was also an interesting addition to the plot as it unfolded.
Dead Weight is pretty light on the violence and we barely see a “zombie” in sight anywhere throughout the movie. To me that’s great, as I’m quite honestly pretty burnt out on the zombie genre at this point. It seems people are still cranking out zombie movies by the boatloads these days, jam packed with, shoddy gore, CG blood and weak ass plot lines. That’s exactly why Dead Weight succeeds, its unique character study plays out quite differently than most zombie flicks.
Without giving too much away, I’d say this is a pretty true to life tale of how people might actually act in this type of situation. Sometimes there are no real heroes and people act simply off of their own emotions and selfish motivations, making the idea of a situation like this much more hopeless and bleak. Something this movie did a great job of portraying. That’s not to say the movie was flawless, the flashbacks were well put together but I really wasn’t fully convinced of the love and emotion Charlie and Samantha had for each other. In fact the two of them together felt a bit off at points. It would have been nice to really feel exactly what made Charlie go against all odds to try and reunite with her.
Plain and simple Dead Weight is a great slice of cinema from Wisconsin! An intriguing story and solid acting by all involved. This was a true independent film and the first for Adam Bartlett and John Pata. I was truly impressed that they pulled off a horror drama, I consider it quite daring as most people on a small budget in this genre go for the tired “over the top” zombie comedy. So kudos for putting some real heart and emotion into a memorable zombie film. That alone is an incredibly tough thing to accomplish in the sea of undead movies flowing onto the shelves these days! I’m pumped to see what these guys do next, I’d say they’re going to be putting the cheese state on the map of movie making in a big way in the near future….
Dead Weight will be released nationally on DVD and VOD January 21st, 2014. Look for it here soon on Netflix too. Check out the trailer:
Survival Quest: Don Coscarelli’s Forgotten 80’s Wilderness GEM!
I had the pure pleasure the other night of watching a perfect 1980’s adventure flick I’d somehow never seen before! Survival Quest has got all the right moves to make it the ultimate 80’s flick for a movie that somehow slipped through the cracks into obscurity. Let’s count the things it has going for it, First it was directed than Don Coscarelli of Phantasm and Bubba Ho-tep fame, I mean I really don’t think I really need to go on, on that alone! But let’s continue, it’s also got Reggie Bannister, Dermot Mulroney, a young Catherine Keener and Lance Henriksen when it really meant something good when he appeared in movies. It’s got everything you want from the beloved era, an awesome score, incredibly hokey heartfelt moments (and there are many), some killer action and some laugh out loud ridiculous moments that only 1988 could give us in film making.
The premise simple, a group of mismatched people fly into a remote airstrip for a four week long survival quest adventure with team leader/guide/teacher Lance Henriksen. Sounds like fun huh? Well it might be except there’s also a troop of teenagers on the same land who’re being trained by a crazy, over the top, trigger happy survivalist who’s a cross between Eminem & Woody Harrelson!
This movie is non stop fun from the get go and never lets up in a way movies of today only dream of being. The survival quest soon ramps up to much more than enduring the elements of the wilderness. This is one of those movies that’s a real treat for anyone whom loves movies from the 80’s like Karate Kid or White Water Summer which actually would be the perfect flick to accompany this one as a double feature! What are you waiting for check this shit out-it’s on Netflix!
Universal Dork 