Constantine (2005): This is part of the trend of old-ish movies where it was not well received when first released, but gained some kind of cult status, or rise in popularity in recent years. To be clear, I always liked the movie, back then I didn't know the comic, so I didn't care about his hair color and stuff. Now I'm a big fan of the character, own all of the original Hellblazer comic series, and a couple of other stories, I got all the Blu-rays of the movies and tv shows where the character appears, animated or live action (Matt Ryan, who plays or voices the character in everything is pretty good at it). So, I recently upgraded my Blu-ray to 4K, in anticipation to the eventual sequel that's been announced last year. The supporting cast is excellent, and possibly overqualified for what they have to do. The disc has a new bonus feature, a '20 years later retrospective' that's pretty interesting. The funny part is how everybody's praising the movie, the sets, the actors and everything in between. All I could think was 'calm down guys, it's a cool movie, but this is no Citizen Kane'. Anyway, I think I'll rewatch the tv show from 2014 now, I enjoyed it a lot, and it was cancelled way too soon.
Absolutely fabulous documentary on the incredible Robin Williams. Not sure why it took me this long to find/watch. The footage from his live shows was a wonderful reminder of his, truly, one of a kind rapid fire brilliant comic mind. It also offered glimpses into who he was beyond his comic persona..an area he didnt really share/show all that often publicly. An outstanding documentary and tribute.
Dead Alive (aka Braindead) (1992 dvd)
The amazing reception for Weapons this week made me think that Zach Cregger now joins Peter Jackson and James Gunn as directors who started in niche/genre/specific areas and somehow made the leap to big budget widespread adoration cinema. That made me wanna revisit this classic.
My goodness this movie is a masterpiece. I think ive always considered the holy trinity of horror/comedy/gore to be: Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator, and Dead Alive. Yet, for whatever reason, ive not revisited this movie as much as the others. Obviously its an epic splatterfest but this viewing made me appreciate so much more: the time/writing around the relationship, the incredible side characters, and a completely random kung fu scene featuring a priest that "kicks ass for the lord". Also i just reveled in so much of the creative practical effects and the brilliant work with the finale monster.
This would be my #1 suggestion for scary movie month for those who havent seen it (editors note: those who havent seen it AND dig suuuuper gory horror comedy).
* For Sale: Lawn Mower. Has Loose Wingnut * Man gets deep into addressing mother issues * Slow Zombies? Fast Zombies? Pffrt. F@#$ing Zombies! * One Does Not Simply make this, LOTR.
Since I have not gone much this summer, I knew this would be a drive-in theater weekend. When I saw that the Mahoning's Vampyrty event was sold out, I instead headed to Scranton last night to the Circle Drive-In for a double feature with WEAPONS and the remake of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER.
Weapons was not at all what I thought it would be. The way the story unfolds by shifting from character to character creates a great buildup to the reveal. You could argue that what happens after that is not as interesting, but I am a fan of these kind of horror stories anyway. I felt rewarded by the experience.
Since I paid for ticket, I stuck around for the duration of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Sometimes I was watching the film, sometimes I was looking over at the other screen showing The Fantastic Four, and sometimes I was gazing at the lights of the Lackawanna Valley. Though I have not seen the original film, it did not take me long to figure out what IKWYDLS was going to do. The callbacks are handled very clumsily, and the actors did not engage my attention much. I will not be seeing this again.
An amazing mixture of extreme dread and hopeless despair with bursts of pure human, musical and cinematic joy. Peter Stormare sings in this! They filmed the musical sequences with 100 fixed cameras rolling simultaneously. I listened to von Trier's commentary and he repeatedly trashes Bjork for being hard to work with and "ruining" the musical sequences. Then I googled the behind the scenes and... yikes.
Constantine (2005): This is part of the trend of old-ish movies where it was not well received when first released, but gained some kind of cult status, or rise in popularity in recent years. To be clear, I always liked the movie, back then I didn't know the comic, so I didn't care about his hair color and stuff. Now I'm a big fan of the character, own all of the original Hellblazer comic series, and a couple of other stories, I got all the Blu-rays of the movies and tv shows where the character appears, animated or live action (Matt Ryan, who plays or voices the character in everything is pretty good at it). So, I recently upgraded my Blu-ray to 4K, in anticipation to the eventual sequel that's been announced last year. The supporting cast is excellent, and possibly overqualified for what they have to do. The disc has a new bonus feature, a '20 years later retrospective' that's pretty interesting. The funny part is how everybody's praising the movie, the sets, the actors and everything in between. All I could think was 'calm down guys, it's a cool movie, but this is no Citizen Kane'. Anyway, I think I'll rewatch the tv show from 2014 now, I enjoyed it a lot, and it was cancelled way too soon.
ReplyDeleteRobin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fabulous documentary on the incredible Robin Williams. Not sure why it took me this long to find/watch. The footage from his live shows was a wonderful reminder of his, truly, one of a kind rapid fire brilliant comic mind. It also offered glimpses into who he was beyond his comic persona..an area he didnt really share/show all that often publicly. An outstanding documentary and tribute.
Dead Alive (aka Braindead) (1992 dvd)
The amazing reception for Weapons this week made me think that Zach Cregger now joins Peter Jackson and James Gunn as directors who started in niche/genre/specific areas and somehow made the leap to big budget widespread adoration cinema. That made me wanna revisit this classic.
My goodness this movie is a masterpiece. I think ive always considered the holy trinity of horror/comedy/gore to be: Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator, and Dead Alive. Yet, for whatever reason, ive not revisited this movie as much as the others. Obviously its an epic splatterfest but this viewing made me appreciate so much more: the time/writing around the relationship, the incredible side characters, and a completely random kung fu scene featuring a priest that "kicks ass for the lord". Also i just reveled in so much of the creative practical effects and the brilliant work with the finale monster.
This would be my #1 suggestion for scary movie month for those who havent seen it (editors note: those who havent seen it AND dig suuuuper gory horror comedy).
Dead Alive 7 Word Reviews:
Delete* For Sale: Lawn Mower. Has Loose Wingnut
* Man gets deep into addressing mother issues
* Slow Zombies? Fast Zombies? Pffrt. F@#$ing Zombies!
* One Does Not Simply make this, LOTR.
Since I have not gone much this summer, I knew this would be a drive-in theater weekend. When I saw that the Mahoning's Vampyrty event was sold out, I instead headed to Scranton last night to the Circle Drive-In for a double feature with WEAPONS and the remake of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER.
ReplyDeleteWeapons was not at all what I thought it would be. The way the story unfolds by shifting from character to character creates a great buildup to the reveal. You could argue that what happens after that is not as interesting, but I am a fan of these kind of horror stories anyway. I felt rewarded by the experience.
Since I paid for ticket, I stuck around for the duration of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Sometimes I was watching the film, sometimes I was looking over at the other screen showing The Fantastic Four, and sometimes I was gazing at the lights of the Lackawanna Valley. Though I have not seen the original film, it did not take me long to figure out what IKWYDLS was going to do. The callbacks are handled very clumsily, and the actors did not engage my attention much. I will not be seeing this again.
Dancer in the Dark (2000, dir. Lars von Trier)
ReplyDeleteAn amazing mixture of extreme dread and hopeless despair with bursts of pure human, musical and cinematic joy. Peter Stormare sings in this! They filmed the musical sequences with 100 fixed cameras rolling simultaneously. I listened to von Trier's commentary and he repeatedly trashes Bjork for being hard to work with and "ruining" the musical sequences. Then I googled the behind the scenes and... yikes.
Explain the 'yikes', was she that difficult, or was it Von Trier?
Delete