After 28 years, Halloween is still a comedy?
October 31, 2006
At the Halloween screening last night, I was surprised that what frightened movie-goers in ‘78 had audiences in stitches in 2006. It has been said that comedy and horror are related but I don’t think this is what was in mind when it was stated. Parents brought young children to see this rated “R” horror staple and perhaps compared to what these children see today on television and in video games, Halloween is considered mild. The marketing of these killers into toys and bobble-head dolls is a contributing factor. Children dress up as Freddy Krueger, a child molester, and go trick-or-treating, while proud parents take photos of their cute pedophile on Halloween night. What scared audiences almost 30 years ago doesn’t seem as terrifying today, in fact it has become laughable. And honestly, how could John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece compete with the fear 21st century news media instills. A lone killer in a small town seems minor in contrast to the myriad of evils the news assaults our senses with on a daily basis.
The screening included a short intro with interviews with Rob Zombie and cast members from the original film. Nothing new was introduced and it was apparent that this was the first marketing stunt for the upcoming Halloween remake directed by Rob Zombie. So if you feel you missed some exclusive Halloween related material, fear not, it wasn’t spectacular. The film itself looked good. I wish they would have bumped the sound up a bit. It was too low for my tastes.
Even though I feel the creep factor still exists in the original Halloween, (I still find the death scenes to be disturbing and not at all laughable) the real reason I was there, and I hope the majority of the sold out audience as well, was out of respect and to pay tribute to a truly innovative filmmaker who contributed greatly to the horror genre.
Despite my confusion about the laughter, I had an amazing time watching Halloween on the big screen. Whether the scares hold up or not, there is no denying the major impact Halloween had on the film industry. The sold out theater and the genuine good vibe from the audience proved that the film still captivates audience. And if those young children are in any way traumatized by the event of seeing this film and start to have nightmares of Michael Myers we can expect the movie to be screening for another thirty years.
Cinematic Guilty Pleasures:
Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom
October 28, 2006
INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984) Directed by Steven Spielberg Produced by Robert Watts Screenplay by Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz Story by George Lucas Starring Harrison Ford Amrish Puri Kate Capshaw Ke Huy Quan and Roshan Seth
The trouble with Temple…
by Chris Blake Sasser
Raiders of the Lost Ark is quite simply one of the greatest cinematic thrill rides one can ever hope to experience. I submit that Raiders is a nearly flawless piece of filmmaking entertainment. It brought to the screen for the first the character of dare-devil archeologist Indiana Jones and he became an immediate pop culture icon.
The teaming of Steven (Jaws) Spielberg and George (Star Wars) Lucas proved to be a winner as Raiders went on to become a phenomenal blockbuster smash which cemented Spielberg’s wunderkind reputation as a director and elevated Harrison Ford into the realm of honest-to-god movie stardom. [Read more]
Cinematic Guilty Pleasures:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
October 26, 2006
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2 (1986) Directed by Tobe Hooper Written by L.M. Kit Carson Starring Dennis Hopper Caroline Williams Jim Siedow Bill Johnson and Bill Moseley Make-Up SFX Tom Savini Produced by Menahem Golan & Yoram Globus
A Misunderstood Massacre…
by Chris Blake Sasser
Upon being unleashed on theaters back in 1986, Tobe Hooper’s long awaited follow-up to his original cult masterpiece left a lot of folks—most folks in fact, just plain bewildered.
Some ten years had passed since Hooper had assaulted screens with his landmark original. That film, needless to say was a savage one-of-kind experience that could never be duplicated. Period. [Read more]
“Monsterfest” brings horror films to AMC
October 23, 2006
By LARRY McSHANE,
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK – The toughest part about making a truly frightening film, according to director John Carpenter, is keeping a straight face.
“The movies that are the most fun are horror movies — you laugh a lot, they’re fun,” says Carpenter, who should know — his resume of terror includes classics “Halloween” with Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Fog” with ex-wife Adrienne Barbeau and “Vampires” with James Woods.
The director might be smiling, but the audience at a good horror flick is cringing, or gasping, or covering their eyes. Horror fans get a chance to do all three, over and over and over, when the 10th annual “Monsterfest” arrives Oct. 22 on AMC. [Read more]
Harrison Ford in Weekend at Bernies 3?
October 21, 2006
Unfortunately, this is not a publicity photo of Harrison Ford in a potentially funny sequel to the Weekend at Bernie’s franchise. This is a real photo of the man who claims to be fit enough to don the fedora again in Indiana Jones 4. Once again the Internet is buzzing with rumors of a fourth installment of Indiana Jones and the truth is nobody cares. First, it probably will never happen and second, Ford, Spielberg and Lucas couldn’t pull it off. Lucas has already proven to be a hack. Read this quote from Lucas about Indy 4:
We’re basically going to do The Phantom Menace. People’s expectations are way higher than you can deliver. You could just get killed for the whole thing. We would do it for fun and just take the hit with the critics and the fans.
The man has no intention of making a film worth seeing. A film the fans and critics will not like? The man is insane. I for one have no interest is seeing an aging Ford taking on the role of Jones with a weak script from Lucas and family-friendly direction from Spielberg. Thankfully, we need not worry. This has been in development for over a decade and it looks like by the time it ever gets the green light Ford will be dead. Bring me Harrison Ford as a dead Bernie and I’m there.
UPDATE 07-Jun-2008
I was wrong. They did make the movie after all. However, Lucas was dead on with what they planned on doing. He told us from the beginning about making another “Phantom Menace” and he was right. They did fool me with the trailers to Crystal Skull. I thought Ford looked good in the outfit again but it was all for naught. Lucas and Spielberg made shit and took the hit from the critics and the fans – and guess what, they are laughing on the way to the bank.
Movie Review: The Illusionist
October 16, 2006
The Illusionist is more magical than mysterious
by Ralph James Ippoliti
Set in 1900 in Vienna, The Illusionist is beautiful and mesmerizing, captivating its audience in atmosphere alone. But take away the smoke and mirrors and one is left feeling empty and dissatisfied.
Adapted for the screen and directed by Neil Burger from a short story by Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Steven Milllhauser, The Illusionist is a love story, pure and simple. The movie opens with the dramatic onstage arrest of a master magician named Eisenheim (Norton) by an ambitious police inspector (Paul Giamatti) under orders from Austria’s Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Eisenheim’s latest illusion of supposedly raising the dead has audiences flooding the theater in which he performs. As the narrative flashes back to the events leading up to Eisenheim’s arrest we learn he was the secret childhood sweetheart of Sophie (Jessica Biel) who at present is engaged to marry the prince. Sophie being rich and Eisenheim being the son of a carpenter was grounds for the two young lovers to be forcibly separated. But as fate would have it they are brought together again and still cavort around in secret. After Sophie’s mysterious and bloody disappearance, Eisenheim accuses the prince and vows to bring him down.
The concept is intriguing and the performances by Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell and Jessica Biel are outstanding. Edward Norton is cast perfectly as the dark and mysterious Eisenheim. In most of Norton’s performances we sense darkness behind his eyes, wearing his innocent good looks as if it were a mask.
But the movie fails as a mystery. The film seems to have not been able to make up its mind whether it was sci-fi or a mystery thriller. In a normal who-done-it there are many questions that need answering in the last act but The Illusionist with its strong supernatural influence left me more puzzled than one of Eisenheim’s turn-of-the-century audience members.
If you are a die-hard fan of any of the cast members than check out The Illusionist, outside of that there isn’t much up this one’s sleeve.
Next Stop: Bus Pirates
October 15, 2006
The new Internet series, Bus Pirates, takes you on a voyage of excitement and laughter aboard a bus in L.A. Created by James Plaxton, Dave Lindsay, Ben Soper, and Tyler Soper, Bus Pirates follows Dan, a man whose unfortunate late start to his day sends him into the dark and often dangerous world of public transportation. Stepping onto the bus, Dan leaves his mundane life behind and is whisked away on a rollicking adventure of mass transit proportions. Aboard the bus, Capt. Jack Bonnier and his band of ruthless bus pirates confront Dan. Dan also allies with Christy, the beautiful and tough robot? Bus Pirates is a follow-up to the creators short-lived series Bakersfield Ninjas and is not to be missed. I am looking forward to following this fantastically imagined series.
Cinematic Guilty Pleasures:
Jaws 2
October 15, 2006
CINEMATIC GUILTY PLEASURES
by Chris Blake Sasser
When the original Jaws opened in the summer of 1975 and began to devour box office receipts, it also swam deep into the public’s psyche and became a phenomenon, the likes of which had rarely– if ever– been seen. So after swallowing up over 260 million in its domestic release, it was only inevitable that a sequel would have to follow.
Never mind that the original was a stand alone story which had achieved a perfection that few motion pictures dare dream of. The original Jaws was a complete movie-going experience. The story had been told. Bruce the shark had been destroyed. The fact that there is no more story to tell immediately renders the concept of a follow-up both implausible and invalid. But Universal Pictures knew there was still money to be made here. As early promotional materials for the film claimed, “one good bite deserves another.†[Read more]
Cinematic Guilty Pleasures:
Demon Knight
October 15, 2006
CINEMATIC GUILTY PLEASURES
by Chris Blake Sasser
This 1995 thriller would have garnered a lot more interest— and respect— if it didn’t have the unfortunate stigmata of having the Tales From the Crypt Presents moniker attached to its title. The Crypt series was already running ad nauseum on HBO when this theatrical effort was released.
The film is not connected to HBO’s Crypt series in any way aside from having the obnoxious, unfunny and completely unconvincing Crypt Keeper puppet set the stage in an uninspired wrap around segment. This segment adds zero to the over-all film and merely seems to function as nothing more than an excuse to get a few gratuitous shots of gigantic breasts bouncing nude upon the screen. But things quickly pick up once the film proper starts. [Read more]
Movie Review: Little Miss Sunshine
October 15, 2006
by Ralph James Ippoliti
First time screenwriter, Michael Arndt, teams up with co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, a husband-and-wife team to take us on a road trip with the lovable dysfunctional family, the Hoovers.
Richard (Greg Kinnear), head of the Hoover household sees two types of people in the world, winners and losers. Little Miss Sunshine takes us on a trip of discovery of what those two terms really mean. [Read more]
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