MOVIES

[Naylzie]

Haven't seen either one yet.  Thor is at least of mild interest, but tbqh, I never really got the draw of Captain America outside of the usual pro-nationalist stuff that I just don't relate to.

And yes to Black Widow, too

[doom]

Captain America is like Morals 101. He's cool, but im sure some of the lure is his being an American Icon.

[luna]

so machete showed up on netflix yesterday...it was really not very good, too much attempt at creating a story when it was just supposed to be about machete

i did learn about a handy place to store my cell phone if ever needed so that was a plus

[TPD]

So the fantasia film festival happened. 3 weeks of geek genre cinema. Caught a whole bunch of stuff. Here's some highlights:

-World premiere of Final Destination 5.
Enjoyable. Some thrilling kills. A lot of ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh moments. And it's got a clever ending.
I felt there was a little too much of a boring subplot in there involving the couple, but the gore more than made up for it. Overall, I like the 2nd and 4th ones the best, but this was a lot of fun. Especially in a packed house and in 3D -- which the film was actually shot in.
I hate 3D unless it does what it does best. Gimmicky gorey horror.

-Also caught the CDN premiere of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.
Really fucking good. Has that oldskool 70s horror vibe. It was going to be PG13, but the MPAA gave it a hard R for Pervasive Horror...
which the filmmmakers were quite proud of.
Really creepy flick. At it's core it's like one of those grimm fairly tales about a little girl and little tiny monsters in the dark.

Guillermo del Toro was supposed to be in attendance (he wrote and produced this flick). He couldn't make it because he was fat and sick. His own words. Instead we got Ryder Strong(?!?!) who directed and wrote the short which aired beforehand.
That was kinda funny because for the past few couple of years people have told me this old ID photo of mine looked like Ryder Strong, so I always viewed him as my evil doppelganger. Anyhoo, his short was fun.

-It was called "The Dungeon Master" and it's about a bunch of hipsters wanting to play D&D after years of not playing it... and thus seeking the aid of a weird DM... and weird shit happens.
I could easily see this becoming a series or something. A lot of potential for lolz.

-Also saw Bangkok Knockout! Holy fuck. Some of the worst acting and dialogue ever, but holy fuck, easily the BEST action and stuntwork ever. this shit raises the bar. so much insane thai martial arts going on. seeing this must have been what western audiences watching Enter the Dragon must have felt like. Insane shit. Felt like I was watching a Mortal Kombat game or something. So fucking rad. Download this now. Insane.

-Saw the director's cut of Takashi Miike13 Assassins. Wow. Slow burn at the begining, but the final hour is like non-stop Samurai goodness. Think 300 but end of feudal Japan. And with less over the top Zack Snyderness. Plenty of carnage, though. Some good performances. And solid story. You really feel for these guys. And it's fucking Takashi Miike so you know you're in for a ride.

-Fans of the original pagantastic Wicker Man will be interested in checking out the kinda-sorta-sequel The Wicker Tree. This one's more of a comedy than the original (which was also a black comedy of sorts, according to the director, but I feel it was more understated), and it's no where near as epic, but it's cool seeing Robin Hardy still make films with some bite. It's based on Hardy's book COWBOYS FOR CHRIST. How do you now wanna see that now? Exactly. Like I said, not as good as Wicker Man... but still miles better than that horrid nick cage piece of shit remake.

-Theatre Bizarre is a real fun horror anthology full of WTFness and gore. I got to meet the legendary gore-master Tom Savini and the übercool Richard Stanley (they both directed segments in this flick) and Udo Kier(!). How cool is that? Yes. Very. Oddly enough, Ogre was supposed to be in this film, but they sacked him for Udo. I found out about this the next day at the Q&A when I asked about Ogre... which led to a few awkward moments... especially since Udo didn't know someone else was cast. Whroooops.  Worth checking out. Nice mixed bag of strangeness.

-and probably my favourite film which also comes out on dvd and blu-ray this month:
SUPER. Just wow. I love James Gunn. I always have, but this has to be his best flick yet. It combines 4 things I love most. Comics & Gore & Ellen Page & Kevin Bacon. Liv Tyler and Rainn Wilson are also in it (Rainn stars in it).
And holy fuck it's funny. It does what the watchmen and kick-ass films failed to do. And since it doesn't have source material, it doesn't rape said source material. brilliant. Yeah, it's not based on a comic, BUT it's kinda inspired by comics in general in the whole realm of HOW DOES THIS SHIT WORK IN THE REAL WORLD, OH FUCK, IT DOESN'T? And that's why it's the best comicbook film ever.
Fucking awesome. Fucking wrong. Fucking dark. Also Ellen Page diddles herself and kinda rapes a dude. Yeah. Oh, and NATHAN CAPTAIN TIGHTPANTS Fillion has a cameo too.
Seriously, even if you hate comics, you will love this film. it's just sooo fucking bizarre.

-Other mentions:
2 Docs. One aired on HBO last night (Superheroes... which is about COSPLAYERS that actually do good... pretty touching, actually),
and the other I mentioned in the NP thread. Last Days Here. Music fan? Check it out.

There were tonnes more I couldn't see (Attack the Block, Burke & Hare, Red State) but really wanted to.
Overall, amazing fest this year. I hate this city, but, goddamn, things like this make up for it.


I'm sure i'm leaving things out...

[sin]

Wow... I had NOT remembered that "Big Top Pee-Wee was so absolutely bat-shit insane.  He lives on a farm now, for some reason, AND he's a scientist.  Plus he has a talking pig as a pet.  WTF?  This does not even scratch the surface of the absolute insanity of this movie.

"Splendid!  I'm very satisfied with these results, Pee-Wee!"
"Me too Vance.  If we keep going at this rate, people will only have to buy 1 tomato a year."
"We do NOT want to end up with a low potassium level, Pee-Wee."
"DUH Vance, you act like I never went to agricultural junior college."

[soul driver]

thanks to a friend, I've recently become a sucker for the Fast and Furious movies. I've never seen any of them, and with Fast Five coming out in May, my friend forced me to watch all 4 of them so we can catch 5 in the theatres when it came out. I'm glad I did, I really ended up enjoying them, just bought them all on blu ray actually..and I think Fast Five may have been the movie of the summer.

[doom]

Limitless.

pretty entertaining summer film. i'd recommend it.

[TPD]

lucas continues to muck with star wars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27RVJJfny4I&annotation_id=annotation_867594&feature=iv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yxuDU8gims

hahahahahaha

[Aaron]

What the? Why mess with the things that were fine?

Well, maybe there is hope of Jar Jar Binks getting taken out of the first three films (Or at lest two, I haven't watched the third.) 

[Goose]

Fuck Lucas in his fucking eye socket.

[r00]

no way that obi-wan clip is real!  No fucking way!  It sounds like Snagglepuss getting a pipecleaner catheter. 

please, somebody say this is fake.   

[TPD]

It's all real i'm afraid.

I'm still baffled that he took perhaps the most greatest moments of jedi -- vader looking at luke silently and then proceeding to head down the path of redemption and stopping the emperor -- AND ADDED ANOTHER RIDICULOUS "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".

The reason that scene worked was because it didn't need any dialogue. David Prowse did all the acting that needed to be done while wearing that damn suit. that takes skill. and it's all ruined because lucas doesn't know to say "when".

and this is why star wars has been dead to me for a number of years.

[r00]

I was reading an interview with Noel Gallagher where he was listing albums and movies that influenced him.  He talked about seeing Star Wars when he was 10 and how fantastic is was, but made sure we knew he was referencing the original version.

"Not the silly edition with the fucking dinosaurs in it, the original."   

It makes me wonder...  does Lucas not listen to any criticism or does he hear it all and not care or maybe even gets off on pissing off his core fans that grew up on this stuff and pissing on the hard work that people put into making the originals?  Maybe he has a bunch of asskissing fools working with him that applaud everything he comes up with, because I cannot see anyone hearing that Obi-Wan sound without telling him is sounds like a noise they would use on a Robot Chicken spoof and laughing their asses off at him.

What a fucking putz.  Star Wars is the only franchise that could survive this kind of mucking with.  I really hope that the blu-ray sales completely tank because fans don't want them.  Unfortunately, that probably won't happen and they will end up under every christmas tree this year because the people buying them as gifts for someone else don't know any better.  8(

[TPD]

you hit the nail on the head. it's the asskissing yes men. and lucas is greedy and is just out for the money. gary kurtz knew this back in 83. that's why he left. there's a reason there was a decline in quality since empire.
this was a really good interview with someone who was there from the beginning (kurtz) and actually gave a shit.
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/08/star-wars-was-born-a-long-time-ago-but-not-all-that-far-far-away-in-1972-filmmakers-george-lucas-and-gary-kurtz-wer.html

also, this sums up everything better than i could.
this was made using dvd extras on the prequels.
one couldn't make this shit up if they tried.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnSqlRi9fy8

witness blank stares from lucas yes men, and wooden acting, and a general sense of "wow these films are gonna suck, let's not tell george".

there's a part 2 and 3 as well.
hilar and sad all at once.

[Aaron]

hahahahah. The vacant faces... Well you got to pay your rent some how...