Film is Pwn

Pale Rider suffers from its impressive company.  You see, Pale Rider is director/star Clint Eastwood’s second-to-last Western, the last being 1992’s Unforgiven, which is in my mind (and many others) the finest Western ever made.  Years ago, when I first saw Pale Rider, it was after I’d seen Unforgiven.  While I thought Pale Rider was “good,” it was nowhere near Unforgiven’s awesomeness.

Recently, I sat down and watched Pale Rider for a second time.  After the second go-round, as a more mature and observant movie connoisseur, I feel comfortable elevating Pale Rider from “pretty good” to “pretty great.” (more…)

The Predator is being re-rebooted, based on this trailer it looks like it might be cool:

I bet reading the title of this post you wondered to yourself, what kind of person would be so excited about this that they would put an exclamation point at the end? The answer is anyone who has been attending popular cinema over the last 10 years (and assorted nerds such as myself). The BBC Reports that filming will begin in July in New Zealand with Guillermo del Toro directing, Peter Jackson producing, and Sir Ian McKellan reprising his role as Gandalf the Grey. The only real news for those who have been following this is that a date has been set for filming to begin, however it does make one wonder

(more…)

Perhaps the most astonishing factoid I can provide about Jaws 4: The Revenge is that it exists.

The original Jaws is an all-time classic; it was the original Summer blockbuster that made oodles of money, put director Steven Spielberg on the map, and made chubby kids like me who swim like lame seals afraid to go in the water for fear of giant Great White Sharks.  Perhaps the only downside to Jawsis they forgot to kill off the fearsome beast at the end so that studio executives could not green light lame sequels.  Oh wait, I forgot, star Roy Scheider DID kill off the shark, blowing up the doggone thing in rather convincing fashion so that what was once the terror of the oceans became but mere chum for passing minnows.

But there is no such thing as a conclusive, definitive death in film, not when money can be made, just ask Jason Vorhees, Freddy Kruger, Spock, and John Travolta’s career. (more…)

My favorite guilty pleasure, the monster/myth hunting show Destination Truth, starts a new season Wednesday night at 10 pm (Eastern) on the SyFy Channel.  I wrote about the show originally here.  While I love “in search of” style shows about bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, etc., the reason why I’m addicted to this show is the hilarious host Josh Gates.  Check out some of the best of moments here: (more…)

Actor Peter Graves past away earlier today, see the CNN article here.  Peter Graves is probably best known for his role on the TV show Mission: Impossible and as the host of Biography.  My fondest memories of Graves are from entertaining B-movies like The Beginning of the End, It Conquered The World, and Killers From Space that appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Killers From Space was actually not released under the MST3K banner, but that’s another story). 

Graves was a fine actor and was quite memorable as the pilot from the spoofest Airplane!  “Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” (more…)

Behold:

For lovers of cheesy low-budget flicks, the SyFy Channel is debuting Dinoshark tonight at 9 pm Eastern.  Trailer below: (more…)

Why, apparently she believes one of their commercials featuring a baby named “Lindsay” who is called a “Milk-a-holic” is libel and everyone thinks of Lindsay Lohan when they hear the name “Lindsay.”  Huh.  The funny thing is, most folks didn’t associate the ad with Lindsay Lohan’s lamentable personal problems . . . until now. For that matter, most of us forgot about this little Superbowl commercial and put it out of our minds . . . until now. The article is here.  Click more if you’d like to see the SHOCKING commercial that has spawned a lawsuit that I truly hope will get laughed out of court very quickly: (more…)

Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale begins with narration that sets the table: “You all know the lovely old legend of Beauty and the Beast. . . I’m telling you that what really happened was far, FAR more terrifying than anything the storytellers ever admitted.” Yes, those fairy tale writers are notorious for their penchant for downplaying fantastic stories.  (In real life, Cinderella was an intergalactic, Amazon warrior who left glass slippers in the eyes of her victims.)

Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale takes place in generic, Middle-Age times in a generic, Middle-Age land.  A generic King lies dying without an heir, and various poseurs, distant relatives, and regal dentists are posturing for the crown.  How did people decide who won things before reality TV dancing and/or singing competitions?  Chicanery, of course.  Evil Count Rudolph (Rhett Giles) plans to increase his kingly stock by capturing the legendary Beast (no relation to Dr. Hank McCoy).

Meanwhile, Belle (Estella Warren), the Washer Woman’s daughter, is wandering the forest looking for herbs to make clothes smell good (not a joke) when she is saved by the mysterious Beast.  Belle promptly shows her gratitude by ratting out his location to Count Rudolph and his henchmen.  Thanks, Belle! (more…)

Check it out here.  Looks pretty doggone cool