BLOGS
October 2009 Archives
Anthony Hopkins. Robert De Niro. Kathy Bates. Vincent D'Onofrio. Billy Zane. What do these people have in common? They all freak us the hell out. Not on a day-to-day basis, of course, but each has had at least one truly memorable role in a horror film. These singularly terrifying performances have earned them all spots on our list of the Scariest Horror Movie Villains of All Time, alongside such luminaries as Freddy Krueger and Leatherface. Check out our list, then let us know who we've left off below!
"What have you done to Michael Jackson?" When Said Taghmaoui spoke those words in Three Kings, it kicked off one of the most bizarre exchanges and gruesome torture scenes in the history of cinema. And that's just from talking about the guy! Jackson's actual film appearances have been few and far-between, but he's worked with some of America's greatest directors and helped created some of film's most indelible images. From horror to crime to sci-fi, from John Landis to Martin Scorcese to Francis Ford Coppola, we ran down all of Jackson's greatest film appearances -- movies and television -- in honor of the release of This Is It, his final concert film. Check out our Michael Jackson Movie Guide, and let us know your favorite below.
Apparently, it is impossible for Netflix to predict if someone will like Napoleon Dynamite. The movie is so quirky and strange that there are no movies where somebody can click "I like this" and have that translate to being a good match for Napoleon. Which is understandable -- after all, the movie has few jokes, little physical comedy, and most of its humor comes from awkward scenarios where unknown or nonprofessional actors wear hideous outfits and don't speak much. That said, a lot of people find it hysterical, particularly the bizarre vocal inflections of its lead characters. Some have even shelled out for the talking action figures. Director Jared Hess' latest movie, Gentlemen Broncos, has no action figures, sadly, but it does have a lot of similarities with Napoleon. However, the addition of a plot -- and three dynamic, talented actors -- turns it into a completely different beast.
Are ninjas still cool? Are they becoming cool again? Because while the trailer for Ninja Assassin (by the director of V for Vendetta) looks awesome, it feels like we should have gotten this movie years ago, when ninjas were kinda in the limelight. Not before The Matrix, of course, because this movie uses a lot of that movie's bullet-time slo-mo action -- except here, it's shuriken time. Omar G. and Pablo G. watched the trailer, and they have plenty to say on the subject of ninjas, which has surely gotten them marked for death by several of the more secretive ninja clans out there. Watch what will surely be the last "Trailers Without Pity" below, or click here.
Christmas must be two months away, because the holiday films are starting to hit stores. Also the orphan movies, the Woody Allen movies and the movies John Malkovich did for a paycheck. Meerrrry Christmas!
If you were thinking about seeing Ong Bak 2: The Beginning this weekend, but thought, "Y'know, I should probably see Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior first..." let me stop you right there. First of all, these are not Harry Potter novels, they're martial arts films. There's no need to worry that you won't know what's going on. All you need to know is that that guy just back-flipped off of an elephant to kick another guy in the face. Second of all, this movie has nothing to do with the first one, which took place in modern times.
Right now, the entertainment world is over saturated with all things vampires. From the insane phenomenon of Twilight to True Blood and The Vampire Diaries and even the popular music act Vampire Weekend (OK, they aren't really vampires... at least that I know of). So I was a little bit skeptical about the timing of this new offering, even though the Cirque Du Freak series of books have been around for almost a decade. Are they just cashing in on a trend? However, the film has a phenomenal cast, and I do like anything to do with vampires, circuses and freak shows, so I was slightly intrigued, and after the fun ride that was Zombieland, I was hopeful about the prospect of another horror-comedy. But this is no Zombieland.
Five years ago, when the first Saw came out, who could have guessed that a low-budget horror film starring Danny Glover, Dina Meyer and Cary Elwes at his most melodramatic would turn into a six-film franchise? Well, we're sure some people could have -- after all, low-budget horror movies make up the lion's share of film franchises. Still, the rate of one new Saw movie a year is impressive, and the fact that Saw VI comes out this month and they've already got Saw VII and VIII scheduled is incredible, if a no-brainer at this point. Still, the plot of the movies keeps getting more and more intricate, as do the deathtraps, so we thought we'd take a wild guess at where the franchise is going from here. Bear with us, it may get bloody.
So the Weather Channel has announced that they're going to start showing movies with weather themes. While one of the announced films -- The Perfect Storm -- features weather as a central plot, the rest factor in weather only tangentially and include Misery (James Caan crashes while driving in a blizzard), March of the Penguins (a blizzard kills some baby penguins) and Deep Blue Sea (a storm strands scientists at sea with killer sharks). We have some suggestions -- some obvious, some not-so-obvious -- for movies that might make good Weather Channel material.
Edward Cullen. Bill Compton. Damon and Stefan Salvatore. What's with all these pretty vampires nowadays? In our day, vampires were ugly, horrific monsters, and they still got the ladies, even if they had to abduct them in the dead of night. Seeing John C. Reilly's vampire character in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant -- with his pallid flesh and disfiguring scars -- made us realize how awesome vampires are when they're monstrous. Check out our gallery of the ugliest vampires and see what really lurks in the dark, besides high cheekbones.
Blog Categories
A Festival for the Rest...ival
20 Entries
Accidents Do Happen
46 Entries
Adventures in Fakery
77 Entries
Alien Nations
3 Entries
Animation Desensitization
79 Entries
Awards Schmawards
17 Entries
Box Office Tally
79 Entries
Burning Questions
4 Entries
Coming Soonish
9 Entries
Cool Nerds Guide
6 Entries
Cop Rick
4 Entries
Crazy In Love
2 Entries
Director? I Hardly Knew Her!
154 Entries
Disease of the Week
1 Entries
Doc Watch
1 Entries
DVDs Unwrapped
24 Entries
Footage Lost (And Found)
2 Entries
For Your Amusement (Park)
10 Entries
Foreign Relations
49 Entries
Future Tense
1 Entries
Galleries (and Other Picture Postcards)
23 Entries
Gangster's Paradise
4 Entries
Getting Dramatic
3 Entries
Girls on Film
75 Entries
Happy Anniversary
9 Entries
Hi, High School
1 Entries
Hollywood To TWoP: Hello There!
36 Entries
I Voted for GORE!
101 Entries
I Want My DVD
221 Entries
I Want My VOD
20 Entries
I've Got Two Tickets to Merchandise
33 Entries
IMDb Fun Times
6 Entries
Indie Snapshot
41 Entries
Indie, Indie, Come Back Home
38 Entries
It Came From New York
6 Entries
It Came From San Diego
14 Entries
It's a Major Award!
75 Entries
Legal Eaglese
21 Entries
Let's Blame the Media!
49 Entries
Let's Go To The Video!
29 Entries
Letterbox of Recommendations
22 Entries
Lights, Camera... Action Jackson!
177 Entries
Little TV Shows That Done Hit the Big Time
71 Entries
Martial Artistry
11 Entries
Momentous Occasions
25 Entries
More On Movies
37 Entries
Movie Merchandise
4 Entries
Musicalifornication
47 Entries
Name That Tune
2 Entries
Obituaries Without Pity
23 Entries
On the Frontlines
1 Entries
Oscars and Grouchery
11 Entries
Politicking
3 Entries
Pros and Controversy
26 Entries
Read All About It
4 Entries
Real People, Fake Movies
21 Entries
Remakes R Us
7 Entries
Reviews of Movies We Haven't Seen Yet
42 Entries
Reviews of Movies We've Actually Seen
485 Entries
Scary Monsters & Super Creeps
103 Entries
Sci-Fidelity
147 Entries
Script From the Headlines!
56 Entries
Separate but Sequel
246 Entries
Sequelitis
19 Entries
Shameless Self-Promotion
27 Entries
Sing Out, Louise
3 Entries
Sports in Our Shorts
6 Entries
Strike Watch
14 Entries
Stupid Cinematic Celebrity Sayings
34 Entries
Sundance Sundance Revolution
13 Entries
Swords and Sorcerers
2 Entries
Taste the Reading Rainbow
93 Entries
Tears in Heaven
1 Entries
The Art of the Cannes
6 Entries
The Biz
122 Entries
The Casting Conch
192 Entries
The History, Booooyyyyy!
79 Entries
The Kongs of Comedy
199 Entries
Theatre With an "R" and an "E"
11 Entries
Things to Know
1 Entries
Things We Learned
1 Entries
Time Tripping
1 Entries
Top of the
1 Entries
Top of the MWoP
5 Entries
Trailer Trashing
72 Entries
Trailers Without Pity
37 Entries
Video Games Killed the Movie Star
23 Entries
Watching Movies With Kids
4 Entries
We Call Do-Over
177 Entries
We Watches the Watchmen
33 Entries
What's Up, Documentary?
17 Entries
When Animal Movies Attack
13 Entries
YA Wasteland
3 Entries
You Got Comic Book in My Movie
249 Entries
You Know, For Kids!
132 Entries