No this has nothing to do with my previous post about Zombie Strippers! Tomorrow I will joining P.I.G.S. on a Halloween excursion to Blarney castle as we go ghost hunting, or hope to anyway.
The PIGS were the people behind the recently successfulParacon event in Clontarf castle.
So basically a gang of about 30 of us will have the privilege of having Blarney Castle in Cork to ourselves for 6 hours tomorrow night. Despite all the techno talk about gadgets and gizmos the investigators, mediums and psychics are bringing, the only advise the gave me was to bring a torch and chocolate. Presumably the torch is used to help me eat the chocolate should the lights go out?
I don’t know what to expect. My fear level is currently at 2. The 2 representing my fear that I will get lost driving down.
I will post back up some photos and commentary on Sunday! Some more photos below. Click to enlarge.
Its all gone to pot. Seriously. I only found out about this during the week but forgot to post about it. My childhood has been brutually assaulted by Val Kilmer and some pretty boy by the name of Justin Bruening.
Warning, this clip is not a wind up or for the faint hearted…
OK, I’ve calmed down with my rant. Yes, earlier this year, February to be exact, NBC aired the pilot of the new Knight Rider series. Only it is minus the Hoff and minus William Daniels. No sign of Edward Mulhare either but we can live with that.. for now!
So Knight Rider has been brought into the 21st century, K.I.T.T. is now labelled the Knight 3000. The pilot to be fair, did feature The Hoff as a guest role reprising Michael Knight. Bruening takes the reins from Michael as his estranged son. Tough break.
Unfortunately the pilot did not fair well with the critics. Nobody appeared to like the muscle car new look of KITT. However the pilot did have over 10 million viewers tune in. The full season is due to kick off in their ’08/’09 season but the future isn’t bright.
Ironically I dont think I could ever take to a new KITT without the camp tones of Daniels and by now you have guessed that Val Kilmer voices the car for the new series.
Did I mention that KITT is also a transformer? Not sure how it works but thinking about a really slick, cool looking car transforming into a van doesn’t fit right with me. Afterall, I’ve never been envious of my mate who drives a Hiace for work purposes. Even if he painted it black, stuck a red LED light on the front and told me it talked to him in a computerised Jenna Jameson voice, I still wouldn’t be jealous. And I drive a Renault….
I guess us Europeans will have to “wait and see” on this one. It hasn’t officially hit our shores yet, and may not. Time will tell.
Anyway, here’s the teaser trailer to tickle your taste buds.
Now lets petition NBC to introduce KARR and Michael Long…
This time of year every movie site and blog has lists of top horror movies and films to make you hide behind the sofa. In an effort to be that little bit different, I have compiled a list of 5 “scary” movies that are not horror films (i.e. no monsters, ghosts or slashers) that still have the same effect! The list is no particular order. Not doubt this list will spark controversy, disagreement and hopefully, downright anger!
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
A film starring Tim Robbins and an uncredited Macauley Culkin that we dont often here much about nowadays, it is still a worthy contender for it’s creepy imagery and it’s use of now common place photography technique which has the effect of creating a “body horror” effect. (An actor is recorded waving his head around at a low frame rate, resulting in horrific fast motion when played back.)
Robbins plays a traumitised Vietnam vet who suffers awful hallucinations and flashbacks of his failed marriage and dead son (Culkin). The line between reality and fantasy runs very thin and we are left wondering just how real his fantasy is throughout the film. The film is riddled with religious undertones throughout, the movie title of course a reference from the bible and his new wife, Jezabell, also taken from the bible. She’s not a very nice woman really.
Directed by Adrian Lyne (Yep that’s Adrian “Flashdance, Fatal Attraction and Nine 1/2 Weeks’ Lyne.), still a movie worth a Hallowe’en watch today.
Trailer:
Se7en (1995)
There are very few movie lists, be it top film, top horror, top blah blah, that doesn’t include Se7en in some part. Every movie fan in the world has seen it at this stage. (* Not a factually based statement). Se7en follows the story of 2 homicide detectives on the chase after a Serial Killer who takes his inspiration from the 7 Deadly Sins. Shot beautifully in a Film Noir style, the performances are top, even Pitt who at the time was the latest “pretty boy” to enter the movie world yet manages to pull off a convincing performance as the ambitious, young and cocky detective.
Despite the heavily gloomy theme throughout, the ending offered a contrastig opposite setup to the film noir style of the film but did not fail to deliver with its carthatic finale.
Interestingly enough, despite the horrific nature of the murders in the film, at no point do we witness the serial killer committing a murder. But the imagery of what the killer has done to his victims is enough to wake us wince and/or vomit. And as for our friend above, left to rot on the bed, it was an actor playing the part and not animatronics…
Rather than show a trailer of the movie, I will instead show you an excellent parody filmed by the band Radiohead as a video for the song 15 Steps from the album In Rainbows. Enjoy!
Bug (2006)
Despite Friedkin rarely pulling off a cracker of a movie nowadays, he still remains one of my favourite directors. HIs 2006 film, Bug had a limited release in Europe despite the extended run in the theatre in the US. Starring Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jnr and Michael Shannon, the film is based on a stage play of the same name.
Mostly shot inside a motel room, we follow an unstable war veteran as he drags a lonely woman into his world of paranoia when the bugs arrive. The loser waitress, getting grief from her ex-con husband starts to fall in love with this very strange war vet. The vet find bugs in the motel room and believes them to be an experiment of the American government.
The film is riddled with psychological warfare often putting the viewer in a state of unease and invoking bouts of depression! The performances are outstanding, particularly from Judd who appears to have put in much effort both mentally and physically for the role. I was also impressed by Michael Shannon’s performance and the convincing nature of his role as the war vet. Shannon however did play the same character in the stage version which probably explains his natural flow with the character.
Despite the performances and script, Bug was only given a limited release and took Friedkin a number of years to fund the project. I expect the grim nature and often “shlocking” nature of the film played a part in this. Well worth a watch though.
Trailer:
Funny Games (1997)
Directed by Michael Haneke, you would be mistaken from thinking my date above should have read 2007 but my preference of the 2 movies is the ’97 Austrian original. In summary, 2 psychotic young men take a family hostage in their holiday home and force them to carry out sadistic games for amusement.
In line with with the themes of the previous films I’ve listed, Funny Games often blurs the line between reality and fantasy as at many points it appears the 2 psychos (sorry I dont know what else to call them!) address the camera directly. When the film was originally screened in Cannes in the year of it’s release, many people walked out, including critics in disgust. Haneke claims he never intended to make the film a horror, but his idea was to make a point about violence in the media.
The film is an unsettled watch and the performance of leading lady, Susanne Lothar help to solidify the unsettled nature of the ordeal. Haneke claimed that Lothar would often cry for 20 minutes before takes which would result in her being physically drained on camera heightening the effect.
The reason why I selected the original movie over the remake is because I believe it to be the stronger of the 2 (Despite an almost shot for shot remake).
Trailer:
Audition (a.k.a Ōdishon) (1997)
Somewhat a controversial choice. But a good one none the less. Apparently at a screening in Dublin’s IFI cinema, a number of viewers walked out, including some plonker who checked himself into hospital but was later discharged.
Sitting in on a special audition seeking an actress, Aoyama becomes besotted with one auditonee and persues her after the interview. However the auditionee, Asami, is quite perculiar, her CV doesnt completely check out and one of the co-panel finds something uncomfortable about her.
It turns out that she is a bit of a whack job, having been sexually abused as a child, she now likes to torture and cut up people. There is no really nice way to say that on your CV I guess.
Back to the controversy I hinted at, well the film isn’t all that disturbing until you reach the final 15 minutes or so. The less said about it the better, just go watch it. But not as a date movie!
Trailer:
And that completes my list. Hopefully there has been something of interest there for everyone. But no doubt there are many who feel the list is incomplete, shite or they could do it better. So what do you think?
To many fanboys, the forthcoming screen adoptation of “Watchmen”, has internet message boards alight with “Please dont screew it up” and “It cant be done” talk. Even one of the original graphic novel (a really long comic to those of us unfamiliar with comicbooks) author’s, Alan Moore, has distanced himself from any adoptation of his novel, listed in the New York Times, Top 50 novels of the 20th Century.
Zack Synder who brought us a previous comicbook adoptation with 300, has really immersed himself in the material. Video diaries from the set show us landscapes that look like they were directly lifted from the novel. Actors being interviewed speak of the enthuaism on set, their new found love for the source material. And all that good jazz.
What is interesting for me, is that when I first watched the trailer many months ago, I hadn’t read the novel. The movie to me just looked like a bunch of Batman wannabes. It wasnt until a friend begged me to read the novel (and I make no apologies at this point for calling it a novel, although it might be just laziness on my part), that I picked it up. And I didn’t put it down until I read the last page. It was definitely like no other hero story I had read previously. So I myself join the fanboys in anticipation of the movie’s release.
Recently another panic hit fanboy world. A secret press screening rumoured that the ending of the movie differs greatly from the novel’s ending. And while Kevin Smith on watching an early rough cut commented that the ending had changed slightly, this “new” rumoured ending was very different and for the most part non sensical.
I will avoid entering into any commentary that would reveal either the novel or rumoured movie ending, a simple internet search will bring you that information. In my opinion, I believe Synder either filmed the alternate ending or has plants to throw off the fanboys rather than go for such a dramatic change to the story. After all all his interviews do allude to his desire to stay close to the original source material. When you consider some people’s arugement the novel’s ending was too far fetched, you only have to point at the Dr. Manhattan character, who is really the only “super” hero in the story. And he is blue and, er, floaty.
Assuming the the 2 studios can reach a happy resolution in court next year to avoid delaying the movie release (Fox claims they had the rights to release this), next year we all will be watching the Watchmen, assuming of course its any good.
Well its that time again, the brats are hassling their parents about what to dress up as for “trick or treat” night later this week. And while the adult fancy dress parties will more than likely be dominated by an army of overdressed and probably overweight, Joker imitators, Im sure fairies, witches and spiderman will reign supreme for the kids.
For me, I don’t have kids nor will I be donning any make up to imitate a dead man’s magnificent performances. I will however have to decide what movie to watch this Hallowe’en.
To me, watching a horror movie at this time of year must carry some value. After all, horror movies often have a greater meaning when undertones and themes mirror events of the time.
As much as watching Jenna Jameson’s zombified body may appeal to the naughtier of us, it may leave me feeling unsatisfied, and undoubtably about as horny as rotting flesh. None the less I have a feeling I might watch this movie at some stage with friends where by we will have a 90 minute debate as to whether we would still give zombie Jenna “one” in her zombie state. Actually, the debate itself will last 1 minute and the remaining 89 minutes will be filled with “Even now?” moments. Even in the age of maturity, some things never change, thankfully.
Then of course there is a obligatory Saw movie release. What are we upto now? Number 5? Or is it roman numeral five? I’ve never understood the preference for roman numerals in movie title sequels. Perhaps its for added cultural symbolism? Or maybe the font is cheaper. Even so, I doubt even Jigsaw could keep me entertained long enough to want to sleep with the light on. Didn’t he die 3 movies ago? I can’t remember. I do remember the original Saw was an enjoyable movie, despite the sometimes comical performance from Cary Elwes. Its ok though Cary, we still love The Princess Bride.
Then there is Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland. Or should I say Jack Bauer? feels like he is Jack Bauer in every movie he has made since “24″ hit our tv screens. I enjoy watching Sutherland run around the screen. He is like a modern day McGyver only without the family friendly persona.
Sadly Mirrors should really have taken a long hard look at itself in the, er, mirror before releasing itself on the general public. Unfortunately I wasn’t as afraid to look in the mirror afterward as I was after watching Candyman.
I guess it looks like there are no current movie offerings to tempt my viewing pleasure over Halloween. Instead I will just watch this trailer for 2 hours in anticipation for its release… Let The Right One In
The much anticipated A-Team movie which was pencilled in for a June 09 release date, has been pushed back until 2010 resulting in director, John Singleton quitting.
Don’t laugh, but the Fox execs wanted to focus on the sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks in ’09 instead!
The movie has been rumoured to the hilt with talks of George Clooney playing Hannibal and both Tyrese and Ice Cube interested in playing B.A.
Can Fox pull this one off? Unlikely. Will the kids of the 70′s and 80′s still go see it? You bet!
So I have finally got around to going live with my blog. Its only taken me 3 years, 4 months, and some IT advice from a 19 year old. I don’t know which part of the last sentence is more worrying, although I suspect its the part where I said “going live”.
So what’s it all about then? Well just about everything! Be it cultural reviews or ponderings, details of a bumpy flight I had, or just a rant! I will also be bringing over the coming months interviews with the stars, and the not so starry! I’ll let you decide which is which. We all love a bit of banter don’t we?
No this has nothing to do with my previous post about Zombie Strippers! Tomorrow I will joining P.I.G.S. on a Halloween excursion to Blarney castle as we go ghost hunting, or hope to anyway.
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