Tagged: Special Effects
A Closer Look At The Latest Movie Green Goblin!
So here I am again, weighing in on the the look of the movie version superheroes and villains-yes I know it seems these days that all I really can do is bitch about how lame all the comic characters look on the big screen! One character I’ve continued to have a big problem with is The Green Goblin! In my opinion one of the coolest looking villains in all comic books, rivaling that of the Joker. Let it be known I hated the Willem Dafoe power ranger Goblin’s get up. Terrible. Let it also be known that the Franco Goblin from Spider-man 3 was the worst piece of shit put to screen yet! So now we have yet another chance with the upcoming Amazing Spider-man 2 to finally get the Green Goblin right!
I’ve already bitched about how he looked so far from the pictures that have been released for the new film, though the images were small of the Goblin it still looked like an uninspired pile of green Hollywood horse shit! However today they released a new close up of Dane DeHaan as The Green Goblin:
While it’s still isn’t a great representation of the iconic villain. I have to say it’s maybe the best version we have seen on the big screen so far. At the very least he looks kinda like a goblin right? I mean he’s still not green, and he still has same the typical Hollywood battle armor that we see it seems in every movie these days but at least he looks kinda creepy? My hope is that he continues to “mutate” in the movie, maybe his skin turns green, his nose grows even longer and then he suddenly gets the urge to throw on some purple duds and the ol’ purple Goblin hat! I know, that’s not going to happen, but a guy can dream right? At the very least they didn’t make him a fully CG character. The pic above does give me some hope though…
I have a feeling that this second movie is going to be a bit of a disaster. Electro certainly doesn’t thrill me and DON’T even get me started on this thing they are calling The Rhino!! Hollywood just doesn’t get it, mainly because they are trying to appeal to a much larger group of people than just us comic book fanatics. So the chances these days that you’re favorite superhero/super villain is gonna look like a full on tool is incredibly likely in this day & age….
Still I take every chance I can get to show what The Green Goblin originally was planned to look like back in the Sam Raimi days, I guess this design just looked too much like…..The Green Goblin?!! Uggh….
The Seventh Curse: Indiana Jones….on Acid!
I finally checked out a movie I’d been wanting to see now for the longest time-The Seventh Curse from 1986! This is surely one of the coolest movies that you’ve never seen! This Chinese action/ adventure/ horror movie has got it all and I’d really expect no less from a flick by Ngai Kai Lam. If you aren’t familiar with Lam you’ve missed out big time for a long time. Most famous for “Riki-Oh:The Story of Ricky” from 1991, which is seriously one of the coolest movies ever made, The Seventh Curse is equally as good in different yet similar ways. I guess I’d best have to describe The Seventh Curse as Hong Kong’s fucked up version of Indiana Jones, and I mean that in the best way possible.
This one has it all really, a young adventuresome cop deep in the jungles of Thailand tries to rescue a beautiful girl from being sacrificed by the evil “Worm Tribe”. In doing so he’s captured by an evil witch Doctor who casts seven “Blood Curses” on him, which burst through his legs periodically. When the seventh bursts, it will affect his heart killing him swiftly. Betsy (a strange mane for a member of The Worm Tribe), the hot jungle vixen he saved, stops the curse with an antidote, that she draws from the most peculiar place(trust me).
This however will only protect him for one year, so on the advice of his friend Wisely (Chow Yun-fat) he heads back to Thailand to find a permanent cure. Serious adventure ensues as the cop and his mercenaries battle the evil sorcerer of the Worm Tribe, a ridiculously hideous blood hungry baby-like creature, and finally “Old Ancestor,” a skeleton with glowing blue eyes that’s got some impressive kung fu chops himself and can transforms into something far more sinister!
Sound like fun? You bet it is! Throw in some great 80’s style monster effects, some great sets, jungle adventure sequences, top notch kung fu, some nice gore and a bunch of really bizarro plot twists and you’ve got a true genre classic that is not to be missed by any fan of awesome odd ball cinema. The Seventh Curse is just as cool in my opinion as Riki-Oh and it really makes me want to hunt down down more of Lam’s movies. This one pretty hard to find on dvd, but I’m sure it could be downloaded somewhere on line, or you could buy it on Amazon.com. If you’re craving some wild offbeat 80’s adventure then this one movie NOT to be missed!!!
Knights of Badassdom: The Most Bad ASS Movie of 2014?!
I finally saw Knights of Badassdom last night, a movie that I’ve been waiting to be released for years. It first started filming iway back in 2010. So the question remains, was it worth the long, long wait? You Betcha!! I’ll go ahead right now and say that this flick will easily be taking ranks in my top ten list in 2014. It’s really too bad that this one is getting such a limited release theatrically, because it’s better than half the comedies that are coming out these days and it works incredibly well as a horror movie too. When I first checked it out I wasn’t aware of how much the movie truly dabbled in the horror, genre I thought it was pretty much a straight up comedy, so I was pleasantly surprised when the heads started rolling. Luckily I was able to catch it here in Portland, Oregon in the theater. I tried to see twice over the weekend but both times it was sold out. Finally we bough our tickets online! I was determined!
First though let me say the movie has a great cast, Peter Dinklage, Ryan Kwanten, Summer Glau and Steve Zahn who I always love, serve up nonstop laughs from beginning to end. Dinklage has got to be the movie’s main draw and without him I really wouldn’t have enjoyed the movie nearly as much as I did. I almost wonder if they’ve been waiting to release the movie because of how popular Dinklage has gotten in last few years with Game of Thrones and his upcoming role as the main bad guy in X-men: Days of Future Past?
The plot is ridiculously simple, metal head Joe, True blood’s Ryan Kwanten is dumped by his girlfriend and to cheer him up his friends get him ridiculously wasted and bring him along to their weekend LARPing outing. Joe’s a bit resistant until he notices his guild has the incredibly cute Gwen (Summer Glau) playing as well. To get the games started the Wizard of the group played By Steve Zahn chants a spell from a strange mystic book he found on Ebay and somehow awakens a succubus that greatly resembles Joe’s ex. She doesn’t show up til later though and in between we get a full on play by play from Dinklage of how to kick ass in the game of Live Action Role Playing that’s one of the movie’s finest moments as he continues throughout to steal the show.
The fun really begins once the succubus emerges from the shadows of the forest. Suddenly the movie starts feeling more like The Army of Darkness than a straight forward comedy. Something that I really enjoyed was all of the old school special effects. The movie features a little bit of well placed CG but by the end of the movie you’ll be cheering in your seat as the evil succubus becomes seriously a little less than human!
The movie is all out fun, the perfect Saturday night popcorn flick and it also delivers one hell of an ending that’s more than worth waiting for. It’s jam packed with, laughs, action, monsters, heavy metal and plenty of surprises! This one was directed by Joel Lynch who also did the awesome Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. If you see this playing near you check it out, it’s got a limited theatrical run before it’s released on Feb. 11th via VOD. I also hear this version may have been heavily edited so that’s just a little more incentive to check out the DVD when it drops!
My Prediction for The Worst Movie of 2014!
I had to take a moment of your time here to get something off my chest that has been bothering me for a little while now. It seems lately that anytime I go to the theaters I am forced to sit through “I, Frankenstein” previews!! Anyone else notice that this trailer seems to have been playing before every fucking movie in the theater for like the past 6 months?! The first time I saw this pile of Franken-shit trailer it instantly made me angry! Seriously, “I, Frankenstein” is what I loathe most about modern cinema. It’s first and foremost a bit of a missed opportunity, as it could have been a cool campy little flick based on the comic.
However, this movie somehow manages to make “Van Helsing” look like a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury prize winning drama! Aaron Eckhart as Frankenstein’s monster?! Why the fuck does he have stitches all over his face and body? He clearly wasn’t stitched together from other body parts-cuz he even though he’s sewn together he’s looks exactly like…….Aaron Eckhart!!
What the hell is up with Frankenstein’s Monster’s fashion too? Is he getting ready to model for an Urban Outfitters catalog?! Also it’s funny because it would seem that this highly attractive monster must have a 24 hour fitness membership too, yeah Frankie has been hitting the gym hard lately, because we all know that’s what monsters love doing with their spare time!!!
Lastly why the hell is Frankenstein trapped inside some bad PlayStation video game from 1999? Oh wait, that’s just the special effects! I thought I was watching the lost “third film” from The Lawnmower Man franchise! I just can’t stomach that something this stupid has made it to the big screen. I already feel that by seeing this trailer on repeated occasions that I’m somehow now suffering from some sort of permanent brain damage. This will be without a doubt be one of the WORST movies of 2014. I am fairly certain it will take the number one slot though with grace. If you pay to see this movie you better go see a shrink to discuss your what’s wrong with your brain. Phew…I feel better now…
Frankenstein’s Army: The Coolest Horror Flick of 2013?!
Do you like cool monster movies as much as I do? If so Frankenstein’s Army looks like a total winner here in this most recent preview just released yesterday! I’m big fan of World War II horror movies and this one could shape up to be one of the best ones yet. To me this movie is looking like a great BPRD story arc filled to the brim with insane Nazi monster soldiers.
It appears that the Nazi’s have their own Doctor Frankenstein that’s constructing creatures with some pretty menacing weaponry melded to their bodies. The trailer is jam packed with action gore and some pretty outstanding fx.
I also read a pretty stellar review on BloodyDisgusting.com so this one is going to the top of my “to see list” pretty rapidly. Opening in select theaters July 26th I’m crossing my fingers this one hits a theater in Portland! Check this shit out!
Evil Dead: Setting a New Trend in Mainstream Horror?
So there we have it, The Evil Dead “remake” in all of it’s bloody glory! I saw it this last weekend on a Sunday afternoon matinee, with a packed theater and I am happy to say the flick exceeded my expectations! Kudos to Fede Alvarez for putting his heart and soul into a movie that I feel real horror fans can get behind. I can’t express enough how awesome it was to see a mainstream Hollywood horror movie deliver the gore the way it was meant to be. CG blood was no where in sight, the effects made me cringe and the story was simple and brutal. I enjoyed it even more so because to me this really wasn’t a remake, we got several hints through the film that these events were talking place after Ash’s experience there and if you stuck around after the credits we indeed got a message from the man himself. Alvarez swore up and down that Ash would NOT appear, even in a cameo in this one. I’m not saying the last scene promises anything to fans but the simple fact that we’re now hearing about Ash returning in Army of Darkness 2 and then both movie worlds colliding for one final flick make me just about wet my pants!
evil dead 2013
Now that’s not to say this was a perfect movie, like many reviewers have complained, I’ll agree there’s not much for character development here. But you know what, Evil Dead was never known for in depth character development! It delivered one purpose, to send chills down your spine and attempt to gross you out as much as possible. I think this flick did exactly what is was supposed to and then some. It makes me think of how rad it will be to see Ash plopped into this sick and twisted reality as the same old idiotic hero we’ve come to know and love. Older but not the least bit wiser. Finally giving us fans what we’ve wanted, one more night out with the King.
It seems the movie was a success too at the box office making over 30 Million in it’s first weekend snagging the number one spot. Things are looking good in the world of the Deadites! So let this be a lesson to all these Hollywood so called horror directors. Give people a quality movie, skip the CG blood-it looks like shit and always will, get creative without solely relying on your computer, plan your shots and make us feel and believe that we’re really there fighting for our survival! Something this latest Evil Dead succeeds at on so many levels!
ADI: Wizards of Special FX!
I just wanted to post a couple videos from ADI, they are an effects studio that specializes in hands on practical effects. Their work never ceases to amaze me. Today they are still pushing the bar with their makeup and animatronics, which I hope more people take notice of. I’ve heard recently that most movies today are made to look like video games, as so many kids expect their movies to look that way and that glossy shiny video gamey look may actually be intentional. There’s a time and a place for both styles of fx, practical and CG and when they are used together it’s often times has created the best moments in cinema.
But for movies today ADI is pretty much the best at what they do. They’ve done a ton of work on some great films, the biggest controversy was all of the special effects they did for the prequel to “The Thing” which ended up a box office flop. The work they did for the film was replaced with shoddy CGI and this outraged the real fans of the iconic 1982 masterpeice. Had they used the ADI versions the prequel would have been the perfect companion piece to that movie. I just watched a great mini episode of Fangoria’s Blood & Guts with Anthrax’s own Scott Ian and it was worth posting again here.
It just goes to show you that these type of effects aren’t dead and in many cases to this day are better than CG. It also reminded me of how rad the monster design was for Goro from the campy Mortal Kombat. Seeing stuff like that done over fifteen years ago makes me wonder why they chose to go fully CG on characters like The Incredible Hulk. Well I guess I am going to have to at least watch Mortal Kombat again! I recommend subscribing to their Youtube channel, there;s some amazing stuff on there!!!
Also any chance I get I love to show this Green Goblin they were working on for the Raimi Spider-man movie. A total shame they didn’t go with it, however my bet is that in the newest reboot of The Amazing Spider-man, The Green Goblin will most likely appear in the third movie-Hollywood don’t blow it get ADI to design his look!!!
The Millenium Bug: Big Dumb Monster Fun!
The Millenium Bug boasts “No CGI” was used in the making of this monster movie. It’s really is quite clear upon viewing this one that indeed no CGI was anywhere near this one & perhaps that’s what gives this little indie monster film it’s charm. It’s clearly meant to be a throwback to the creature features of yesterday in pretty much every way imaginable. Be fore warned though, don’t take this one too seriously as you’re not likely to get any realism from the plot or the special effects.
It follows a family escaping the city during the Y2K hysteria who get abducted by a family of evil hillbillies. But wait folks, before you pass this off as another Texas Chainsaw rip I might add that a giant monster erupts from the earth and is hellbent on destroying everything in it’s path. This gargantuan monster bug looks like a missing nemesis from an old classic Godzilla flick! The entire movie was filmed on a tiny soundstage so it really has that old school movie vibe going for it. There’s something charming and sweet about movies filmed this way that’s largely missing from movies today. When the monster attacks it destroys tiny small scale model homes, trees and people. The effects are done nicely too, but as I said before this one lacks any grounding in the real world in look and plot. This movie knows exactly what it wants to be: big dumb loud fun by some people who hate modern cg drenched cinema…
From ROBOCOP to ROBOCRAP?!
Hey isn’t it awesome we finally have gotten a good look at the new Robocop costume for the upcoming remake?! You’d think so huh? However this seems quite the contrary with this new pic that surfaced today. It feels like I just saw this new incarnation of the character recently though…like in The Dark Knight Rises!!!
It’s not Robocop its fucking BATMAN!!! Seriously folks this is the best they could do for Robocop in 2012?! I think they forgot…um…he’s supposed to be a damn ROBOT! My verdict is a big thumbs down thus far! I don’t know about you all but I will gladly take my 80’s Robocop over this loser any day! UGGGGH Hollywood remakes….
MAD GOD: Probably the Coolest Thing I Have Laid Eyes On This Year!
I have just seen the Kickstarter video for legendary stop motion / effects master Phil Tippett’s latest movie he’s recently started working on again and it looks incredible!Seriously before you read on check out the Kickstarter video! Phil is famous for his work on little films called The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Jurassic Park & Robocop to name a few.
All I really need to say watch this teaser and if you’re interested check out the interview with Harry Knowles. It’s even better news to know the movie reached it’s funding goals on Kickstarter! So it will be a reality and most likely one of the most amazing little movies of current times…
Universal Dork 