A Talking Cat!?! – Temple of Bad

An all-star cast (we're sure there are some stars in there somewhere) pretend to be impressed with a commonplace feline who couldn't care less in A TALKING CAT!?!
An all-star cast (we're sure there are some stars in there somewhere) pretend to be impressed with a commonplace feline who couldn't care less in A TALKING CAT!?!

We have to be clear about this: There are bad movies; there are reprehensible movies; there are movies that make you consider taking out a contract on the entire DGA, just to be sure that never in the future of humankind will there be a chance that such an affront to common decency could again be committed. And then there are films that are a strangely exhilarating kind of awful, the kind that actually restore your faith in the perverse diversity of the human race, that re-instill your wonder in the awesome chaos of the universe, that, as the slogan for Temple of Bad has it, are truly a religious experience. Such a film is A TALKING CAT!?! A putative family comedy that isn’t funny (at least not in a deliberate way) and that would likely rupture any family unfortunate enough to be exposed to it, this film starts with the premise that people would listen to a cat that dispenses cryptic directives in the voice of Eric Roberts, and then throws such niceties as narrative coherence, plausible characterization, decent production values, and commonsense behavior out the window in its attempt to fill its scant eighty-five minutes with something that justifies its existence.
The Temple of Bad team of Andrea Lipinski, Orenthal V. Hawkins, Kevin Lauderdale and Dan Persons get together to try to puzzle out some method behind A TALKING CAT!?!’s madness (spoiler: they don’t succeed). Click on the player to hear the show.

The Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero – The CFQ Interview

Greg Nicotero (in glasses and plaid shirt) preps a zombie for his moment in the spotlight on THE WALKING DEAD.
Greg Nicotero (in glasses and plaid shirt) preps a zombie for his moment in the spotlight on THE WALKING DEAD.

Sometimes doing the job is reward in itself. That’s what it was like for me to talk with Greg Nicotero. From DAWN OF THE DEAD to BREAKING BAD, from ARMY OF DARKNESS to OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, from HOSTEL to SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR, his vivid and creative makeup effects work has brought the fantastic, the grotesque, and the sometimes-just-plain-realistic to a dazzling kaleidoscope of film and TV projects.
That includes THE WALKING DEAD, the blockbuster TV series which scooped up a couple of primetime Emmy awards for Nicotero’s work in bringing the flesh-hungry walkers to gruesome… uh, life? Death? Anyway, in honor of the release of the complete fourth season on DVD and Blu-ray this Tuesday, we got some time with Greg to talk about the finer points of zombie nurturing and care. Click on the player to hear the show.

Varsity Blood Finger Puppet Theater – Video

If it was up to me, more previz– those dry-runs filmmakers create of sequences using story board drawings — would actually be done using finger puppets. It’s quick, it’s cheap, and you get to wiggle your digits in front of the camera, which has to be fun. For now, the makers of the upcoming VARSITY BLOOD are at the vanguard, showing how this humble medium can make you laugh, cry, and bleed.
What is that, raspberry jam?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Hour of the Wolf Movie Review

Megan Fox (back to camera) confronts one of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. That's Leonardo, if you care. We don't.
Megan Fox (back to camera) confronts one of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. That’s Leonardo, if you care. We don’t.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES got nothing to worry about. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES doing quite well, thank you very much. Got the big-budget, Michael Bay treatment (he’s the producer on this one; Jonathan Liebesman directed); came in #1 at the box office this past weekend; has the almost inevitable sequel already in the works. Yup, life is good for TMNT. Unless, of course, the attending audience happened to see GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY last week. In which case, there might have been quite a few people coming out of the theater thinking, Nice try, but it doesn’t quite cut it.
In two weeks, we’ve had two films that want nothing more than to entertain us with some adrenaline-packed, fantastic storytelling. How each goes about the task, and how successful each is, says a lot about the filmmakers, how they regard this genre, and what they think of their audience. I explore the issue a bit in my review of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES for Jim Freund’s HOUR OF THE WOLF. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the title to download.

Hour of the Wolf Movie Review: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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Guardians of the Galaxy – Hour of the Wolf Movie Review

(l to r) Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Chris Pratt tap their inner Han Solo in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.
(l to r) Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Chris Pratt tap their inner Han Solo in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

Welcome to August, the month when studios, having already fired off all their high-profile (not to mention high concept) summer guns, unleash what amounts to their second tier of releases, the stuff that doesn’t automatically trigger broad media attention, things with a more… “culty,” shall we say?… appeal, and things that are, let’s just say it, no durn good. However, since even the big tent-poles can now be somewhat inconsequential in their story-telling and quality (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, anyone?), it’s become less surprising that a dog-day release could have been just as welcome, if not more so, in the weeks preceding.
Such is the case with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, a fun space adventure based on a Marvel comic book that racked up record box office in its opening week, and earns its goodwill in a number of ways. I take a look at the film in my latest review for Jim Freund’s HOUR OF THE WOLF — click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click on the title to download.

Hour of the Wolf Movie Review: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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SHARKNADO 2's Dante Palminteri – The CFQ Interview

(l to r) Ian Ziering, Dante Palminteri, and Vivica A. Fox hope the Big Apple won't take a bite out of them in SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE.
(l to r) Ian Ziering, Dante Palminteri, and Vivica A. Fox hope the Big Apple won't take a bite out of them in SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE.

It’s raining sharks, hallelujah! Or maybe whether you’re making that exclamation depends on how highly refined your appreciation of irony is. Yes, SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE is here, moving the mayhem to New York (to the producers’ credit, largely the real New York), larding the proceedings with copious cameos (hallloooo Andy Dick, Perez Hilton, Al Roker, etc, etc.), and wasting no time in throwing airborne maneaters at hapless victims (why are there sharknados? Who cares — look, SHARKS!).
One of the major players trying to avoid becoming shark bait is Dante Palminteri, son of Chazz and making his major(?) film debut with this role. In this exclusive interview, he takes us behind the scenes of this landmark cinematic event, certain to be the most monumental film of Summer 2014. Okay, my ironyometer just shorted out, sorry. I’m going to go watch HARLAN COUNTY, USA to recover.

I Origins/Mood Indigo – Hour of the Wolf Movie Review

Audrey Tatou and Romain Duris float above impending troubles in MOOD INDIGO.
Audrey Tatou and Romain Duris float above impending troubles in MOOD INDIGO.

This past weekend was just chock full of magical, whimsical women breaking studious, guarded men out of their cocoons. No, not SEX TAPE — I have no idea about how that plot plays out and, besides, that’s not genre. But otherwise, for all their divergent approaches to the material, both I ORIGINS and MOOD INDIGO incorporate the same base theme. After that, of course, anything goes: I ORIGINS continues director Mike Cahill’s ongoing exploration of humanity’s interconnectedness through the tale of a dedicated, eye-obsessed scientist (Mike Cahill) having his adherence to objective reasoning challenged by the mystical outlook of an exotic model (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) with equally exotic eyeballs; while MOOD INDIGO lets director Michel Gondry explore the artificiality of certain, idealized brands of French romance through the story of how the wacky life of an eccentric inventor (Romain Duris) is overthrown when the health of his wife (Audrey Tatou) is threatened.
Another way to distinguish these films: They aren’t equally successful in their goals. To find out how they fare, click on the player to hear my review for Jim Freund’s HOUR OF THE WOLF.

Hour of the Wolf Movie Review: I ORIGINS/MOOD INDIGO

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Hour of the Wolf Movie Review

Human Jason Clarke finds relations strained with simian neighbors (l to r) Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, and Karin Konoval in DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.
Human Jason Clarke finds relations strained with simian neighbors (l to r) Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, and Karin Konoval in DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

This is a trivial question, but it’s been bugging me, so let me get it out, okay? Why is the sequel to RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES called DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES? I mean, “dawn” suggests a beginning, right? And you can’t actually rise until you begin, right? So shouldn’t the titles of these films be reversed? Then again, that first film wasn’t really focused on the planet of the apes beginning, but on the events that eventually led to that beginning. And this newest film isn’t so much about the planet’s rise as one glimpse into how humanity loses its foothold to the newly born society of intelligent simians. But then, I guess EVENTS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING AND HAVING A DIRECT IMPACT UPON THE DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and ONE CHAPTER THAT WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES wouldn’t quite pop on movie posters, would it? Never mind.
Hm? What did I think of the film? Oh, I loved it. No, let me clarify that: I LOVED IT. But it’s not really as simple as that, so listen in to my review for the HOUR OF THE WOLF radio show to get my take on this thoroughly entertaining summer blockbuster. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the title to download.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Hour of the Wolf Movie Review

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Rigor Mortis Director Juno Mak – The CFQ Interview

Chin Siu-Ho discovers that urban renewal ain't all it's cracked up to be in RIGOR MORTIS
Chin Siu-Ho discovers that urban renewal ain't all it's cracked up to be in RIGOR MORTIS

Even in the anything-to-get-your-adrenaline-pumping world of Hong Kong cinema, RIGOR MORTIS stands out. The story of a famous actor, Chin Siu-Ho (played by actual famous actor Chin Siu-Ho — your heard us), who has to contend with a seedy apartment building whose walls reverberate with echoes of his most famous film, the hopping vampire horror-comedy MR. VAMPIRE — including mysterious spirits, a mystical warrior-cum-resterateur (played by MR. VAMPIRE cast-mate Anthony “Friend” Chan), and, yes, a hopping vampire — the film plays as both a tribute to, and a dark and dizzyingly intense reimagining of, a beloved sub-genre. Director Juno Mak makes his feature film debut with this visually stunning, shockingly violent, and at times surprisingly moving, effort, and we were eager to discuss the roots of the project in the legendary MR. VAMPIRE franchise, and the challenges of creating this effects-laden feast. Click on the player to hear the show.

Coherence – Radio Film Review

Elizabeth Gracen (left), Lorene Scafaria and Nicholas Brendon are not quite themselves (or are they?) in COHERENCE
Elizabeth Gracen (left), Lorene Scafaria and Nicholas Brendon are not quite themselves (or are they?) in COHERENCE

There’s nothing particularly wrong with employing the time-space continuum for the pure fun of the concept. EDGE OF TOMORROW makes good sport of it, coming up with a pretty keen action film and allowing Tom Cruise to play comedy beats better than he did in KNIGHT AND DAY. But, given the mind-bending possibilities inherent in the genre, it seems almost a crime not delve for deeper meanings than just “craven coward becomes kick-ass action hero.” GROUNDHOG DAY did it. So did TIMECRIMES. So did FUTURAMA (numerous times).
And now, so does COHERENCE. The tale of a Los Angeles dinner party that goes all kinds of wrong when a comet begins warping the dimensions, the film — directed by James Ward Byrkit, the man who helped create the freaky “family” film RANGO, and starring BUFFY’s Nicholas Brendon, Emily Baldoni and Maury Sterling, among others — manages to be as much a commentary on relationships and the fragility of the social contract as it is an sf mindfreak. I delve into the film in my review for HOUR OF THE WOLF, and, as bonus, also take a look at the latest episode of the fan-produced STAR TREK CONTINUES and IDW’s first Star Trek: New Visions photo-novella, both of which, in another example of the crossing of the timelines, deal with the aftermath of the Enterprise crew’s visit to the mirror universe in “Mirror, Mirror.” Weeeeeeeird. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the title below to download.

COHERENCE – Hour of the Wolf Movie Review

LISTEN TO HOUR OF THE WOLF
EVERY THURSDAY AT 1:30 AM
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