Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2015

ICON of HORROR: October 1st

The Horror Icon for October 1st is..........................LON CHANEY SR.





Lon Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930), nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. He is best remembered for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with film makeup.

Notable roles:



Quasimodo - "The Hunchback on Notre Dame" (1923)




Erik, The Phantom - "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925)





Professor/(or Inspector) Edward C. Burke/The Man in the Beaver Hat - "London After Midnight (A.K.A. The Hypnotist) (1927) (This is a lost film, The last known copy was destroyed in a fire in an MGM film vault in 1967. There has been rumors of prints still existing, but nothing official. This is known as the Holy Grail of Horror films)

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Sir Christopher lee has died at 93



We are saddened to have learned the news that the amazing man known as Sir Christopher lee has sadly passed away at the age of 93.



Christopher lee has been a part of many of nerdy things over his life span and has created many a memories in his fans. His most recent acclaim comes from the actor reprising his role as Saruman from the Peter Jackson adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings series.

To many fans however (this author included) he is known better from his early works. He starred in the Hammer film Horror of Dracula and all of it's sequels as the title character, opposite of the late great Peter Cushing. He also did many other Hammer films, usually playing the monster of the film.

He was in the animated classic The Last Unicorn  where he voiced the evil King Haggard in both the English and German versions of the film. He portrayed the villainous Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel films, as well as the character of Fu Manchu in The Face of Fu Manchu.

Christopher Lee was also a musician, releasing more than one Heavy metal album which were well received in the metal community

Lee died on Sunday June 7th in London after being admitted into the hospital for respiratory problems and heart failure. He will be sorely missed.

Requiescat in Pace Sir Christopher Lee


Tuesday, May 19, 2015

New trailer for Pixels released




2015 is going old school.



With multiple fan favorite film franchises getting new chapters this year, it's only reasonable for a movie to come out featuring our favorite games from the past. That movie is Pixels.



Staring comedians Adam Sandler and Kevin James, This film will take your hand to lead down memory lane and then bite off your freaking hand.

'When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.'

With that plot alone we should be in for an awesome ride, but the worry of Adam Sandler looms over the film like a squadron of alien fighters rapidly firing at your ship. Hopefully, Sandler's recent track record won't affect this film, but just in case they cast Peter Dinklage to make sure this movie has some star power.



The movie is directed by Chris Columbus and will be released on July 24th. Dust off you Atari and get ready for summer.


Friday, February 20, 2015

Zack Snyder reveals first look at Aquaman


Zack Snyder has released the first official image of Jason Momoa as Aquaman via his twitter account and it seems like they are using the 90's iteration of the character as the inspiration for Momoa's look.


Momoa's Aquaman is first slated to appear in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice alongside the returning Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, then he will follow it up with a solo film taking place in between Justice League part 1 & 2, which he will also be a part of.

Dawn of Justice - May 25th 2016

Justice League Part 1 - November 17th, 2017

Aquaman - July 27th, 2018

Justice League Part 2 - June 14th, 2019

Hopefully we will be getting a full trailer or at least a teaser to Dawn of Justice very soon.



Thursday, February 19, 2015

50 SHADES OF GREY MOVIE REVIEW





Based off of a New York Times bestselling novel of the same name; which in turn was based off of a Twilight fan fiction, the film adaptation of 50 shades of Grey leave very little to the imagination and yet so much to be desired. With clichéd scenes, a terrible ending and pacing that just dragged and dragged and dragged…


…to the point that there is no denying, that this soft core theatrical porn is a travesty of modern cinema.

The characters are all extremely dull and so massively uninteresting, that you’ll more than likely find yourself longing after their Twilight counterparts. At least they had a supernatural flare to them that kept their story somewhat engaging.

The film stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, a virginal woman who is in her last few weeks before graduating college and Jamie Dornan as Christen Grey, a 27 year old Billionaire with a secret obsession with bondage and sexual dominance.

From the very beginning of the film you are hit square in the face with horrible dialogue and very weak acting from our lead characters. The complete lack of subtext or overlaying subplot throughout are only a precursor to the abusive, possessive, and downright stalkish characteristics of Mr. Grey.

The only saving graces for this train wreck of a movie was the score (composed by Danny Elfman), the music selection, the impressive camera work and the superb lighting. The latter two would make sense considering that the Director of Photography, Seamus McGarvey, was also the DP for The Avengers and the (2014) Godzilla.

The Final Nail in the Coffin:
This film was clearly intended for a certain demographic and seeing as how it made over $94 million its opening weekend, it obviously appealed to the right audience. Even so, the film shows very dangerous and highly flawed stereotypes of BDSM and dominant/submissive relationships, so please don’t use it as a how to guide.

BDSM is defined as consensual sex practices involving Bondage, Discipline, Dominance, Submission, Sadism and Masochism. Key word there being consensual, something that Mr. Grey clearly knows nothing about, seeing as how he decided to break into Anastasia’s home to confront her and then proceeded to show her how nice his company is.

The fact that this is what passes as a leading role for women is disheartening and downright sad. A character with no discernible personality what so ever and is so dependent upon having a man to take care of her in order to be happy, is just deplorable. One can only imagine how different the story would have been if Anastasia would have been replaced with a strong, confident, and independent woman who decided to not put up with Christian’s abusive ways.


RATING: 1/10 Neckties.




Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Casting News: Nightcrawler cast for X-Men Apocalypse


Announced very late last night on director Bryan Singer's Instagram page, 18 year old Australian actor Kodi Smit-Mcphee has been cast as a young Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler for the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse.



This young actor is no stranger to apocalyptic scenarios either, seeing as he portrayed the son of Viggo Mortensen in the 2009 film The Road and the son of Jason Clarke in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He also starred in the American remake of the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In opposite of Chloë Grace Moretz, as well voicing Norman Babcock, the lead character in the animated film Paranorman. 

Now he tackles the role of Nightcrawler, the mutant with the ability to teleport by traveling through another dimension. He also has a somewhat demonic appearance including blue fur, a long tail, three fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot. His look comes from his parents Azazel and Mystique, played respectively by Jason Flemying and Jennifer Lawrence.



Nightcrawler is one of the more interesting characters in the X-Men universe, seeing as how he is one of the few who cannot actively pass as human. Unless they decide to give him the image-inducer, which gives him the appearance of a normal human and was used very prominently in the animated series X-Men: Evolution. 



With all of the time line altering that took place as a result to X-Men: Days of Future Past it will be interesting to see how everything will fall into place.

X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters May 27th, 2016.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

SPOILER FREE! KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE MOVIE REVIEW



It’s been a very long time since we've had an action film the caliber of Kingsman: The Secret Service, and it was damn sure worth the wait.

With over the top fight scenes and very nice camera work, this stylish and imaginative romp through the world of super spies is a great one. Hopefully this will become the next great franchise that we get to experience, because this one is already an instant classic.




Loosely based off of the comic book The Secret Service written by: Mark Millar with artwork by: Dave Gibbons, this film offers high octane action with a dose of witty banter and a good throwback to the classic spy movies of old.

Kingsman is about an underground secret spy network who take on threats to public safety all while dressing to the nines in their bullet proof suits and with their high tech umbrellas that would put Judge Dredd’s multiple ammo gun to shame. The main villains in the movie are a billionaire tech genius who speaks with a lisp (for no other discernible reason than to make audiences laugh), despises violence, and gets sick from the sight of blood and a beautiful body guard with prosthetic legs that have been modified with mini swords. 



Directed by Matthew Vaughn, who brought us such films as X-men: First Class and Kick-Ass (another Mark Millar comic series), and starring the likes of Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Strong and Mark Hamill.

The general consensus across the board, is that Kingsman is well worth watching, with currently an 8.3 rating on IMDB and a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. So in other words you should go see this amazing movie! If you need more convincing check out the RED BAND trailer below...






The Final Nail in the Coffin:
With the current crop of movies being ‘realistic’ biopics, gritty rehashing’s of old franchises, or adaptations of popular books; it was nice to see something that felt fresh. Granted, even though it’s based on a comic book, it didn't feel like it was and that’s what separates this movie from other films as of late. It was well acted, smartly written, and just good old fashioned fun, which is the main take away from this tribute to the classic spy film.

RATING: 9/10 Bulletproof Umbrellas. 





Friday, February 13, 2015

It's Friday the 13th!




It only happens once or twice a year, though this year happens to have three of them, and it has become a day synonymous with horror.

Believed to have origins in the middle ages and stemming from Christian beliefs, the day has always been considered unlucky. But it wasn't until 1980 that the day changed from being just unlucky to a day that is full of downright terror.

Thirty four years later and the fear is still pulsing through the hearts of the world. With ten sequels and remake adding to the fear, it's become one of the most well known and most profitable franchises in the horror genre.

Happy Friday the 13th everybody!


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Hitman: Agent 47 trailer released





Agent 47 is back.

Earlier today the trailer for 'Hitman: Agent 47' was released and it looks awesome! Take a look for yourself...





The film is based off of the popular video game series and will hit theaters AUGUST 28, 2015.

It stars Zachary Quinto, Hannah Ware, & Rupert Friend. It's directed by first time filmmaker Aleksander Bach.

I personally never played any of the games, nor did I watch the previous 'Hitman' film from 2007 starring Timothy Olyphant. However, after viewing this trailer I'm highly considering dusting off the old PS2 and give this franchise a chance.