With a lot of attention being placed on the upcoming theatrical release of “Jurassic World”, it might interest you to take a look at this lovely little lost world ditty. A plan crashes on an isolated island that is rife with primordial life forms. But the really beautiful beastie present is the “King” of this place. Look familiar? A man in a terrible ape suit runs wild at times through this thing. This movie is a great diversion. Seek it out and have a few cheap thrills!
Alien 3 is not my favorite entry in the Alien film franchise. After the kinetic pace and firepower of “Aliens” before it, this tale of the Ripley character marooned on a planet serving as a prison for male only inmates who have no access to guns, explosives, etc. was, to say the least, a letdown. It was also in this David Fincher directed piece that people started fucking with the alien character itself. We started to see the alien hybrid creature emerge which is meant to add to its character development as it can’t speak and deliver lines of a script. In my opinion, it adds no interest to the story to see an alien burst out of a dog and to try and pick out the new features particular to this unholy mating. LAME! Let’s also not forget that two pivotal characters from “Aliens”, Hicks and Newt, didn’t even make it out alive from the crash of the escape shuttle on the prison planet! It was a very messy creative decision but that is how we started “Alien 3”.
It was thus a very pleasant shock to find out that Neill Blomkamp, director of “District 9” and “Chappie” fame, has been tinkering with a storyline that will follow on after the events of “Aliens”! It will be like “Alien 3” and (the dreadful, don’t get me started, another review maybe?) “Alien Resurrection” never existed. Hicks, at least, will live to face another alien challenge!!! Blomkamp is not releasing a lot of details but Ridley Scott will be producing the new film and Blomkamp is writing and directing. What an amazing development in my favorite film franchise!
Until Ken Burns comes around to create the definitive UFO documentary, whet your appetite for extraterrestrial visitation speculation with this 1970’s compendium of still photos, film footage and witness interviews. A lot of zooming and panning across still images of alien abductions and weird encounters taking place are in full representation in this film. Very serious narration bolsters the claims of pilots, military personnel and civilians that they have been in the presence of other worldly beings and craft. Nice, electronic music flourishes, combined with canned orchestral passages provide the musical bed for this piece. It all has a very ’70’s feel which can be attractive or repulsive according to your tastes. For a historical refresher course on the state of UFO research up until the 1970’s, this one is worth checking out. But be warned that the film’s mellow pace may lull you to sleep as well.
Night Ranger was a band that made it big in the formative days of MTV. Apparently, a film school friend recorded their music video and it was given heavy air play on the fledgling music video network. With a limited amount of content to air, Night Ranger’s “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” received heavy play on the network. The public took note and music video stars were born. A succession of pop metal hits was the spawn. “When You Close Your Eyes” follows the Night Ranger formula and features the band members exhibiting their thespian skills. The net results are lame and strained but what would you expect from the heady days of the early 1980’s? These guys were on fire and knew no limits. Looking at this video now, I’d say they met their match as they couldn’t act their way out of a paper sack. Nice try, though, as painful as it may be to sit through. Seeing the band perform now, I think it is bassist/singer Jack Blades who is dreaming about the mullet sporting dreamboat he once was. Time has its ravage and Blades is a perfect example. I am no exception. Rock on, Dudes.
Two of Hollywood’s most beautiful stars at the time, Kevin Costner and Madeline Stowe, engage in an illicit affair in this Tony Scott directed film. The scorned husband of Stowe, Anthony Quinn, uncovers the truth and orchestrates an unremittingly grim beat down upon the two lovers. Shockingly violent and ugly, this is a movie plot conjured out of nightmares and grim fantasies. There are no hero saves the day moments in store, just a final, sickening realization within the main characters that maybe it would have been better to have just stayed the course and avoided the ruination of their lives that took place after engaging in the affair. Another in a long line of movies that I have no desire to view twice.
I have never really liked this movie. On recent viewing, I can see why. The entire production is revolting. It starts with the fact that this is a big budgeted movie based on a best selling book, “Relic”. Don’t expect to watch this and think it reliably follows the novel. There have been many editorial liberties taken. (So what else is new, you ask?) This movie is awash in guts and gore being spewed in all directions. There are generous helpings of entrail ripping, blood splatterings and heads being severed. Ugh. I don’t think I found one likeable character in the entire story. Maybe that helps ease the pain of having to add to the body count. So what the whole sick mess is about purports to be a genetically altered human, reptile, insect hybrid monster that lurks in a sewer below a Natural History Museum. A cop is investigating some deaths at the museum and stumbles upon this menace. Too many dimly lit scenes, screaming, fleeing people, body mutilations, and crude special effects for my tastes. Should have been left under lock and key.
This updated retelling of “The Invisible Man” saga starts out promising enough. A scientist donates his living body to his experiment and ends up turning invisible. The trick is in finding a way to get him back to the plainly visible. As the experiment goes awry, there is a momentary feeling of desperation for the scientist’s plight. No solution seems to be forthcoming. But that is where the dread ends. Sanity fades and the scientist ends up going a little batty and begins to luxuriate in the mischief and misdeeds available to him if no one can see him. Before long, he is completely following his own agenda and his fellow researchers become mere fodder for his evil acts. The last quarter of the movie becomes ludicrous as the above averaged brained scientists commit the most stupid acts imaginable and completely play into the hands of the unseen menace. In other words, a lot of these characters are there only to contribute to the body count. This movie truly sinks into a formulaic chase/action picture and I can honestly say that I didn’t care if any of these saps made it out alive. Check out the remake of “The Fly” for a memorable “mad scientist” flick.
Legendary, ultra violent western from director Sam Peckinpah. A group of aging outlaws plan just one more big heist before “peacefully” riding off into the sunset. OK. That was really lame! But it’s a familiar tale of thieves taking down one more score before disappearing with the loot and presumably staying out of any more trouble. The really electrifying action takes place at the end of the film when the four man bunch takes on a Mexican stronghold of soldiers numbering in the hundreds. You will witness tons of graphic blood splattering, grenade tossing, and Peckinpah’s patented usage of slow motion, cross cut edited carnage. Looking past all the extreme violence, this is an incredibly well made film full of fine performances and set pieces. William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan are very good.
Very cool compilation of different zombie types that are found in movies and TV. We find that there may be multiple ways to be turned into a zombie including plagues, solar flares, voodoo, etc. The general consensus is, though, that in order to end a zombie’s miserable existence is to your advantage to severely wound or damage the head area of said zombie. If your aim is steady and accurate enough, use a gun or rifle to shoot the zombie in the head. Seems to do the trick in most cases. Always nice to watch these cats shamble around on the big and little screens but pray that all the talk about an impending zombie apocalypse is just that. Hehe.
It is with a heavy heart that I comment on the passing of our very dear friend, Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy proved to be a man of many talents. Among his accomplishments were successful turns as actor, director, writer, singer, and photographer. We all best remember him for his iconic portrayal of the Vulcan First Officer aboard the starship Enterprise, Mr. Spock. The “Star Trek” role endeared him to fans and established his place as one of the most beloved fictional characters in the history of, well, the world! Nimoy’s work as psychologist Dr. David Kibner in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is to me a beautiful showcase for the actor. I find his character to be one of my favorite parts of this movie. Seek out more of Leonard Nimoy’s artistic contributions. It is fine work indeed.
My favorite episode from the cinematic horror comic, “Creepshow”. This movie captured the flavor of horror comics infamously represented by the line put out by EC Comics in the 1940’s and 1950’s. There are flourishes of garish, saturated colors which permeate several chapters of this episodic anthology and some transitions from live action to cartoon graphics. Genre heavyweights George Romero of “Night of the Living Dead” fame and writer Stephen King lent their talents to the weird goings on here. This clip details a murderous act of revenge enacted by a jealous husband upon his unfaithful wife and her lover. The tide turns on the husband as the recently deceased refuse to stay settled in their watery grave and reappear in a rather grotesque, bloated state to return the favor. Nice acting turns by Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson. Nielsen losing his mind when confronted with the undead is rather affecting.
Cheap Trick giving a rousing performance of their classic, “Surrender”, live at the Houston Astrodome. Lovely 5-neck guitar action and a grand tour of the grounds in a flatbed truck. Featuring the late, great Bun E Carlos on drums. He is definitely missed.
Great song from a great band. This number appeared on their concept album, “Schoolboys In Disgrace”. Haunting “lost love” song. From the fertile imagination of their prolific songwriter/genius Ray Davies.
There has been a lot of discussion lately involving Clint Eastwood’s new film, “American Sniper”. But Eastwood has had a couple brushes in the past with sniper related elements in his movies. “Dirty Harry” featured a psycho killer who dispatches a lovely swimming in a pool from long range with a sniper rifle. “Joe Kidd” contained a character who uses a high powered rifle with a scope in the Old West to pick off victims. “The Enforcer” was the third picture in the “Dirty Harry” series. It ends up that Eastwood’s unorthodox cop, Harry Callahan, resorts to utilizing a laz rocket to annihilate another psycho villain who has kidnapped the mayor of San Francisco. The dilapidated prison setting of Alcatraz is where the “hit” goes down. We get the sniper’s point of view as Callahan sights in his prey and blows him to smithereens. For what it’s worth.
