Iron Man 3 TV Spot 6/Featurette 3: Who Knew Billionaires Were So Cool?

Posted on April 24, 2013 by geelw

Usually, it’s all pompous 1-percenting about tax shelters, how much that gold-plated platinum toilet (with bidet, of course) cost and trying to get legislation passed that keeps the poor from doing no more than scraping the outside of the bottom of the barrel for scraps they toss down, but I bet if Tony Stark were a real guy, he’d be fun to hang around with. Well, provided he wasn’t constantly having people like the Mandarin trying to get rid of him. One minute, you’re talking with him about the possibility of trying on a non-working Iron Man prototype and the next minute, you’re hiding under one of those suits because the ceiling just fell in. Whatever happened to “Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams…”, I say…

Hmm, I wonder what Bill Gates is up to? I’m sure he’s not having crazy guys with too many rings on their fingers putting holes in his property (unless he’s getting a golf course put into the back yard)…

Random Film of the Week: Peeping Tom

Posted on April 23, 2013 by geelw

peeping tom poster Based on what transpired after it hit theaters back in 1960, one could almost say that career suicides don’t come any better or more stylish than acclaimed director Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom. Controversial immediately upon release in the UK, the film was banned for many years from public showings in some countries, but took on a life of its own as the years passed and is seen as a genre classic by many horror fans today.

Despite its age, there are some extremely intriguing psychological themes and visual elements some easily upset types will probably find shocking. That said, it’s not as if Powell planned on his directing life in Britain going down the drain with this film. He was simply applying his well-honed talents all too well to a screenplay that happened to be extremely well-written and precise in its portrayal of a very troubled photographer and his special camera…
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Thor: The Dark World Trailer (UK): If I Had A Hammer, Too…

Posted on April 23, 2013 by geelw

OK, everybody… SING! Yeah, if you’re old enough like me, you know how that music goes. If you don’t, there’s a visual aid below:

“Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard,
Where the booming heavens roar,
You’ll behold in breathless wonder
The God Of Thunder, Mighty Thor!”

The Marvel movie revival juggernaut continues with this upcoming sequel set for an October 30, 2013 launch in the UK. Marvel’s US YouTube page seems to a wee bit slow on uploading the US version, so here you go. Even though there’s a bit of corny on display above, I like the way this sequel looks. Then again, I liked the first film because it was pretty fun and quite amusing thanks to the direction and a solid cast. Of course, there’s that interesting crossover thing happening here, meaning it’ll be fun to stick around for the credits and see what new Marvel flick gets teased. I do wonder if we’ll see some sort of huge blockbuster that brings in ALL the current Marvel movie heroes, as I’d bet the most hard-core fans would line up for that one a year in advance if it were announced…

Iron Man 3 TV Spot #5: Rust Never Sleeps (II… and Neither Does Tony Stark, It Seems)…

Posted on April 22, 2013 by geelw

I thought we’d see something like a dozen different ads by now, but Marvel is taking their time on rolling these out it seems. Either that, or it’s because they’ve shown so much of the action scenes in bits and pieces that revealing the actual story would be a bad thing. Of course, as I’m not one of those internet poker-a-rounders digging up every plot point or on-set screenshot out there so I can spoil my screening, I don’t mind the slow reveals one bit. Actually, it would be amazing to see a major motion picture that’s not a Terence Malick film pop up with not so much spolieriffic fanfare and blow audiences away because it was under-hyped and amazing. Eh, like that ever happens these days…

Random Film of the Week(end) 3: MAGIC

Posted on April 21, 2013 by geelw

magic poster If you were an impressionable young lad or young lady of a certain age growing up in the 1970’s, the TV commercial for this film probably scared the piss out of you and more than once at that. I was 14 and at the time this came out and man, it freaked the hell out of me, especially when it popped up late at night.

That meant I just HAD to see it back then, even if it meant sneaking into a theater playing it. Of course, being the more carefree 70’s, that bit of stealth action wasn’t necessary at all, So I managed to get in with a friend from school and ended up being a bit disappointed that the film, while good, wasn’t as chilling as the TV spot. Of course, a few years later I saw it again and got a new appreciation for it, so I’m probably just like a few of you who also caught this back in the day.
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Random Film of the Week(end), Too: IT’S ALIVE

Posted on April 21, 2013 by geelw

Larry Cohen’s brilliantly cheesy (yet pretty freaky) 1974 horror flick is a campy and bloody good time for genre fans, but it also managed (and still manages) to be an interesting bit of debate material if you watch it with someone who takes its messaging too seriously. I say keep it down with the heated discussion and try not to get caught up in real-life arguments about big pharmaceutical companies using people as guinea pigs with horrifying results and/or the usual pro-life and pro-choice issues, camp out on the sofa with some popcorn and beverages and enjoy this one for what it is. Buried under that bloody good fun and Bernard Herrmann score is a classic that got a few funky sequels made, all of which are worth checking out (despite being of slightly to moderately lesser quality as time went on). That and hell, the 70’s vibe in this one is in full effect thanks to some fine casting and scenery chewing by the principals… and that REALLY hideous monster baby…

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World War Z Trailers: (Almost) No One Gets Out Alive…

Posted on April 21, 2013 by geelw

I have to say that the less one believes in this whole “zombie apocalypse” sub-genre that’s taken the world by storm, the more comic some of these films, books and other media tend to be. Look, the fact that people are making money off of being so-called “experts” in zombies and surviving the horror of the “inevitable” invasion means there are way too many fools parting with their money that they should be spending on better things. Hell, even this awesome-looking flick will become something of a “zombie” itself once it goes into heavy cable rotation in what, nine or so months after it’s released? Or Christmas, if the film needs to grab some big holiday bucks as a home video release.

My bet is we see a good deal of this summer’s flick pop up by the end of this year or early next as big-deal Blu-Ray/DVD combo packs. Granted, most will be milked further as “Director’s Cut” or “Unrated” versions with all sorts of extra footage and bonus features, but hey – some things never change as time goes on… Well, until some jerky corporation decides ALL physical media is like a zombie that needs its head chopped off and we’re all forced to sit in front of a damn monitor of TV that’s connected to crappy internet that LAGS like molasses made in hell because everyone is trying to download or stream the same flicks at the same time. Bleh – I’d rather get my brain eaten by a damn zombie than suffer through that crap, that’s for sure…

Star Trek: Into Darkness Trailer 2: Jumping Off Tall Stuff Is The New Black (Part 2)…

Posted on April 21, 2013 by geelw

Speak of the devil, here’s another trailer for J.J. Abrams’ sequel, which is still making some old-school Trekkies livid for basically having more action in two minutes than half a season of the original series. I say as long as the plot is solid and the characters well-written and acted, i don’t mind at all. I’m still cracking up at all the shots of people jumping off high places, as it seems to be a hallmark of the director’s style. The funniest thing about these shots is you KNOW everyone jumping in them isn’t going to end up like Wile E. Coyote a the bottom of a ravine at all… it’s just how and where they land that’s going to keep the sequence going. Hmmm… someone needs to make a YouTube video of EVERY Abrams jump-off shot and landing and post it so I can fall out of my Captain’s chair in hysterics. Get on it and get back to me – that’s your homework assignment for the week…

Random Film of the Week(end): Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Posted on April 20, 2013 by geelw

Like a few too many people who didn’t initially “get” it, I absolutely hated Beyond the Valley of the Dolls the first time I saw it back in the early 1980’s. Of course, I went in expecting one thing (I’d never seen a Russ Meyer film before) and yes, got something else entirely. Yes, I was probably a wee bit too young to grasp the wild blend of comedy, drama, morality play and plenty of under-dressed female and male flesh bouncing and wiggling about. But it only took a few years and a more maturely snarky perspective to see what I was really missing. Before then, I’d always given anything Roger Ebert said about movies the hovering eyebrow (as in “What does HE know, he co-wrote that crappy movie!”). After I started liking this beautiful, campy mess co-written and directed by Russ Meyer, it became of the first flicks I’d recommend to friends or anyone wanting to see something “out there” and it’s still ahead of its time in many respects… Continue reading →

Iron Man 3 World Tour: The Cast Gets Around, The Crowds Go Wild…

Posted on April 19, 2013 by geelw

Well, these big press and fan-packed junkets are always weird and often dull as hell for the casts of these blockbusters, but you have to give Robert Downey Jr. a few metric tons of credit for doing his own awesomely quirky thing to shake stuff up. Well, reaction to the film is definitely great overseas, so that enthusiasm will no doubt carry on as the film arrives at a mega-multiplex near you on May 3. Hey, you still have time to finish that Coke can Iron Man outfit you’re working on (yeah, I know you didn’t want me to say anything, but…), so get to it! Just leave the windows open when you’re spray painting, as huffing in those fumes will do you in faster than the Mandarin with his can opener ring…