Capsule commentary, with clips and trailers, for GODZILLA. Read the full review here.
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PLUS ONE: Capsule Review
PLUS ONE (aka +1). Directed by Dennis Iliadis. IFC Midnight, 9/13, 97 mins. With: Ashley Hinshaw, Rhys Wakefield, Logan Miller.
At the kind of teen party that happens only in movies courting the demo that dreams of going to this kind of teen party — you know: copious booze and drugs; gyrating strippers; million-dollar sound system; general ambiance of Rome-at-the-fall — an alien force of indeterminate origin begins messing with the space-time continuum, conjuring up an alt-party a few minutes out-of-sync with the original. While this essentially means they’re getting double the bang for their liquor buck, it also presents no little threat as the time-lines begin to converge, and the revelers realize that only one party is going to make it all the way to the finish.
Director Dennis Iliadis’ take-down of the PROJECT X brand of teen comedy wraps up in satisfyingly brutal fashion — if your general musings while watching such films tend toward nuclear bombs and attacks by rabid lemurs, you’ll be happy here. But it replicates the flaw of the similarly satirical CABIN IN THE WOODS, forcing you to wade at length through the clichés of the genre in order to get to the (literal) deconstruction. The pay-off is worth it, particularly in regards to the film’s central plot-strand, which has a desperate boyfriend (Rhys Wakefield) struggling to make up with his girlfriend (Ashley Hinshaw) and resorting to some fateful decisions with each rebuff. Vengeance is at hand for those of us who were stuck in basement rec rooms with a scratchy copy of Déjà vu playing in the background.
Godzilla (2014) teaser trailer
Here is an awesome glimpse of the upcoming reboot from Legendary Pictures, the company that gave us PACIFIC RIM. Scheduled for worldwide release in May of 2014, GODZILLA stars Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche, Victor Rasuk, David Strathairn, CJ Adams, Richard T. Jones, Brian Markinson, Al Sapienza, Ken Jamamura, Patrick Sabongui, Yuki Morita, and Akira Takarada (who starred in the 1954 original). Gareth Edwards (MONSTERS) directed, from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, derived from a story by Dave Callaham (THE EXPENDABLES).
With any luck, this film will be the polar opposite of the misguided 1998 film directed by Roland Emmerich, which replaced the familiar Godzilla design with an over-sized mutant iguana. Regarding his approach to the new film, director Edwards told Shock Till You Drop:
“Godzilla is definitely a representation of the wrath of nature. We’ve taken it very seriously and the theme is man versus nature and Godzilla is certainly the nature side of it. You can’t win that fight. Nature’s always going to win and that’s what the subtext of our movie is about. He’s the punishment we deserve.”
See a larger version of the trailer below:
Maleficent trailer
Check out the official teaser trailer for MALEFICENT, Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action fantasy film starring Angelina Jolie as the wicked witch made famous in their animated SLEEPING BEAUTY.
Larry Fessenden & Rob Kuhns on BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD: Inside the Fantastique [FULL VIDEO]
From the societal upheavals of the 1960’s to the not-all-that-more-quiescent twenty-first century, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD has managed to chill the blood of horror lovers everywhere and simultaneously cast an unsettling light on the media, racial politics, and the American way of life in general. Now there’s a new documentary, BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD, that uses clips, interviews, and some evocative animation by artist Gary Pullin to not only tell the tale of how George Romero and crew took a shoestring budget and managed to create a film the rewrote the rules of horror, but also explore how this humble tale of the walking dead still manages to resonate today.
Cinefantastique Online’s Dan Persons sits down with BIRTH’s Executive Producer Larry Fessenden and director Rob Kuhns to talk about what NIGHT means to them, the genesis and influences of their project, and what they hope it will say about Romero’s legacy.
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Insidious & Walking Dead at Halloween Horror Nights
This video tour of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood showcases the bloody mayhem of two walk-through attractions inspired by recent horror films: Evil Dead: Book of the Dead and the eerie shudders of Insidious: Into the Further.
Even if you did not care for the films themselves, you may get a kick out of the walk-through versions. Universal Studios’s annual Halloween attraction is known for meticulously recreating sets, scenes, and characters from the films, and the live aspect allows for an in-your-face approach you simply cannot get on the big screen. Thrill to the ghostly apparition appearing from behind a mirror! Shiver at the sound of chainsaws! Gag at the geysers of blood!
Check out a larger version below:
Halloween House of Horrors 2013
October is the season of horror, with classics and cult films resurrected on the big screen, season video releases, and a myriad of haunted house events, many of them based on horror movies. Universal Studios Hollywood specializes in this kind of attraction, as you can see from this video, set in the House of Horrors. This year-round attraction on the studio tour features classic movies monsters such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolf Man, who were brought to the screen by Universal Pictures back in the 1930s and 1940s. For the Halloween season, the number of monsters is magnified, and a contemporary dance soundtrack is added.
Also on view: a trip through the Universal Studios’s back lot, which is overrun by walkers from AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD.
Full-size video below:
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Here’s What’s Going On 07/25/2013: James Mangold Talks THE WOLVERINE
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From the luxurious Cinefantastique Online studios in NYC, Dan Persons brings you up-to-date on what’s happening in the world of fantastic film & TV.
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Here’s What’s Going On 07/25/2013: Public Outcry for DREDD 2?
Karl Urban is counting on you, civilian!… Gale Anne Hurd preps a retro alien tale… Batman and the Flash compare notes on psychos in JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX…
From the luxurious Cinefantastique Online studios in NYC, Dan Persons brings you up-to-date on what’s happening in the world of fantastic film & TV.
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Here’s What’s Going On 07/24/2013: New Writers Courted for Next STAR TREK
Scribes with Bad Robot creds in talks… Syfy wants Oz characters to go to war… We wanted to show you the trailer for RIDDICK. We can’t. We just can’t…
From the luxurious Cinefantastique Online studios in NYC, Dan Persons brings you up-to-date on what’s happening in the world of fantastic film & TV.
FULL-SIZE VIDEO IS BELOW
Podcast: Play in new window | Download