RoboCop Poster: Black Is The New Black (Plus a “Related” Dog Story)…

Posted on September 13, 2013 by geelw

Sometimes You Get It, Sometimes You Don’t Department: About a month back I’m walking to the subway from a press event and there’s this guy walking a cute bulldog (well, cute for a bulldog) who stops at a traffic light while a big truck is trying to turn the corner. As I stroll up next to them and wait the minute or so it’ll take the truck to make the turn, a gal in a nice summer dress pops out of a store, walks up to the guy and starts chatting about his dog, asking if she could pet it. He says “Sure!” and while she’s doing so, she looks up and asks “What’s your dog’s name?” The guy looks down and says “Murphy” and yes, I let out a huge laugh. The guy looks over at me as I’m recovering and I ask “Robocop?, to which HE starts cracking up. “Yeah, yeah…” Of course, as we’re having our chuckle, the gal is looking at us and not quite getting it. Right at that moment, the truck finished negotiating the turn and I noted to the guy that he might want to let the lady in on the reference before she thinks something crazy is going on. Of course, I had that Basil Poledouris theme playing in my head as I strolled off…

Oh yeah… nice poster, huh? I’m betting we’ll see a few more before this one’s ready for its close up.

Yeah, Yeah… it’s Friday the 13th (You May Want to Watch Your Step)…

Posted on September 13, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, oldhollywoodtrailers!)

You may as well get some entertainment as you’re dodging black cats and ladders with buckets on them, right? However, if you’re bopping down the street reading this on your phone or tablet, there’s an open manhole waiting to say “Hello!”. What, you’re laughing at that trailer above because it’s old and not so scary? OK, I’ve got you now:

(thanks, justontime100!)

What, you have some good luck left? Grrrr… ZAP!

(thanks, VEVO!)

Hmmm… no? Still feeling lucky, punk? OK, try this:

(thanks, kanizu00!)

Yeah, the lady ALWAYS wins… Enjoy that banana peel slide into traffic.

Gravity TV Spot 2: Science For Dummies (As A Tease, At Least)…

Posted on September 11, 2013 by geelw

If you aced that science class in school, you’re probably a little upset that right after the words NO SOUND appear in both the Gravity trailers and TV ads, there is indeed SOUND IN SPAAAAAAACE! there in the form of a big BOOM! and the noise of stuff rattling about. Welp, kids… that’s just wrong, but it’s been confirmed that there is indeed NO sound in the final film. Yes, the trailers and other ads are made for people who need that aural bump to get those thrills. That is all. Go see this – it looks phenomenal.

Chucky… You’re Back (Again)! But You (Still) Don’t Scare Me…

Posted on September 10, 2013 by geelw

Oh, I dunno. None of the Child’s Play movies ever frightened me at all and the more violent Chucky flicks were more amusing and bizarre (and gory) than actually scary. So this recent attempt at freaking me out with a new (and sometimes CG animated) Chucky is falling on deaf eyes or something like that. Yeah, you can come over and film me while I watch this, but you’ll see what looks like a scream is act-ually a big, fat contagious yawn. Come on, you know you’re about to YAWN just by reading that word. Go on ahead. It’s supposed to work that way. Ready? One… Two… Three… Therrrre you go. See? And hey, if you didn’t yawn – read this again with the cat or dog nearby and they’ll yawn. Bet you a nickel.

Er, where was I again? Oh yeah – sorry Universal, this one didn’t do a thing for me. Yaaaaawwwwnnnn… Zzzz (and better luck next time)…

Random Film of the Week: The Honeymoon Killers

Posted on September 10, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, neondreams25!)

While it’s not a horror film, Leonard Kastle’s The Honeymoon Killers manages to be a fairly intense drama/black comedy mix that gets your attention with its true crime story, stark black and white photography and excellent performances from the two leads. This is a film that gets under your skin right away with Gustav Mahler’s intense music setting an oppressively dreary tone for the story of Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck, aka The Lonely Hearts Killers, as they go about their nasty work of lightening the landscape of too-trusting mostly elderly ladies looking for love in all the wrong places.

Kastle, in his first and only studio film, managed to make an instant classic that’s also a fantastic low-budget flick as well as a pretty grim viewing experience if you’ve never seen it before. That said, there’s also a bit of very dark humor to be found here and the movie is a pretty compelling viewing experience thanks to the near constant level of suspense tempered with a near constant sense of dread…

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More Apologies Are in Order (But At Least I Stayed Out of Trouble This Time)…

Posted on September 9, 2013 by geelw

So, yeah… here I am last week making an absolutely terrific fool of myself (whee!) next to two of the stars of the hilarious and soon to be released in Japan comedy from Toho Studios’ King of Gomen Nasai (The Apology King). I need to remind myself to not sit in the front row at these screenings so this stuff doesn’t happen, but I survived doing this hastily choreographed routine (about 90% wrong, but I got the ending part mostly OK).

As for the film itself, it’s great fun and pretty surprising on a few fronts, but I don’t think it’s getting a North American release any time soon. That’s too bad, as it would be nice to see more films like this pop up on cable after their theatrical runs are over and done with. Oh well – the best I can hope for is a Blu-Ray or DVD once that’s out in Japan or another territory I can import an English subtitled version from. Oh yeah, sorry for exposing you to this blackmail photo that now CAN’T be uses to blackmail me!

RoboCop Trailer: “Dead or Alive, You’re Coming With Me…” to the Multiplex!

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, CBMTrailers!)

OK, I’m (almost) sold. Granted, you can’t beat the original for what it brought to audiences back in the day (an unexpected hit, plenty of quotable lines, practical effects work galore and a story that solid, mixing drama, humor and extreme violence very well indeed), but this remake isn’t looking bad at all from this trailer. I have to say that this NOT being rated R is a bit annoying (the original film’s first cut kicked the censors in the groin and got an X rating until a few choice cuts were made. It took eleven attempts in total to get that R rating!), but I’m betting the studio thinks a PG-13 film will put more asses into seats because the tweens can walk up and buy tickets. Bleh.

Anyway, on one hand I can’t see this tanking unless there’s a big snowstorm in February that keeps people away and the film gets really awful reviews from some older cranky critics who do nothing but revere certain films and have a ZERO tolerance for anyone (no matter how skilled) touching what they grew up watching too many times. Then again… that February 7, 2014 release date scares me a bit. That and the assorted set woes I’ve occasionally read about. Well, as long as it’s better than Total Recall and Dredd and Hollywood doesn’t decide to copy Robocop 2 to even more of a T if this film does well, maybe it’ll be fine. Let’s see now… February, la, la, la… that means the Blu-Ray/DVD is out around May… Hmmmm, I think it’ll make a nice birthday present for me next year…

So, There’s Actually a Showgirls Sequel? Color Me Intrigued…

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

September 17, DVD and VOD. Yeah, I paid to see the original film and yup, nearly keeled over from the mind-blowing over the top hilarity of it all, so as soon as I got this news I had to put in a review request. As with the original, I’m going not expecting anything but to get a few more laughs and if the press release is any indication, I’m not going to be disappointed. To wit:

Las Vegas stripper, Penny Slot (Rena Riffel), sets out on an adventure to become the star dancer on a popular television show. With stars in her eyes, she tries to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – but instead finds drama, danger and snuff movies in a town much more wicked than Sin City.

Hmmm… you can’t go anywhere up straight into parody (and perhaps Russ Meyer territory, or at least the outskirts of that particular peculiar town) from there, so here I sit awaiting “greatness” and a fine time at Camp Value. Maybe I should stock up on brown rice and vegetables while I’m camped out by the mailbox?

Gravity Main Trailer 2: Some More Weightlessly Worldy Matters…

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly enough it seems that the lonely guy/gal in a big dangerous place is turning into a sub-genre. There’s this flick from Alfonso Cuarón, that new Robert Redford flick with him on a boat at sea (I forget the title, but it’s obvious Oscar bait), and if you can stand it (well, he’s not alone, but it’s basically another big “one man” Oscar bait performance), Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips (a movie I still question the necessity of with a big, fat “Whyyyyy?”). Of all three, I’ll stick with Gravity because of Cuarón’s work on City of Men, a film that had me hooked in from that opening scene. I’m hoping this one doesn’t go the happy ending route or at least if it does, it’s an ending that’s satisfying and leaves some form of closure no matter what happens.

Apologies Are In Order (And Quite Fitting, Today, At That)…

Posted on September 4, 2013 by geelw

Ha and double ha. Apologies for the slowness of posts lately. Actually, today is just dopey because I had some computer issues that took a wee bit too long to figure out what was wrong, but that’s been taken care of. Amusingly enough, I have a film screening to attend in about 3 hours for Toho’s King of Gomen Nasai (The Apology King), and yes, it’s a comedy if you haven’t gathered by the trailer above and that goofy Ringu-inspired video below in this post. I’ll most likely whip out a review of this one afterward, as it’s too weird to ignore. Back in a bit. I may be back before Pumpkin Hour, in which case, I’ll have a new post or two up then.