Peeping Tom - Movie Review

Mark Lewis is a generally shy individual with a deep dedication to filmmaking. By day he works as a focus puller for a British film studio, and for extra money he supplies playful, erotic photos for a local newspaper shop to sell. Mark, however, has another secret desire – he gets filled with an amorous elation when he sees women in a frightened state. This desirable feeling has spun out of control to the point where Mark has begun murdering women with a weapon of his own design; a handheld video camera supported by a tripod with a spear concealed in the front leg so that Mark can film their deaths and relish in their terror until very last breath, but soon Mark finds himself falling in love with a tenant in his apartment building. He hopes to seek a cure, but to find one he must relive the ordeals of the experiments his father, a famous biologist, subjected him to and recorded when he was a young boy.

Peeping Tom was made in 1960 by director Michael Powell (The Red Shoes) and writer Leo Marks and it is a movie that is truly ahead of its time. The story’s use of voyeurism is intriguing and seemed fresh for the suspense genre, especially when watching how someone uses the cameras and recording devices of the 50’s and 60’s to accomplish what a cell phone and a laptop computer can do these days.

Karlheinz Bohm portrays Mark as a neurotic, emotionally frail lost boy when he is around people, but once Mark steps behind the camera a confident, no-nonsense artist emerges, which was a nice touch. You also get a complete story as you see what makes Mark tick, what charges his thrill for a woman’s fear. Bohm shows flashes of legendary character actor Peter Lorre in both expressions and dialogue, and it serves him well for most of the film of which the first three quarters were capable of holding my attention, but somewhere along the line the movie loses steam and instead of an intense, excitable ending things sputter and wear down until you get something passable for the Batman television show starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The murders are gruesome in theory, there is no blood anywhere in the film, which is bright and psychedelic itself, but that’s because it was the style of filming in the oncoming 1960’s as studios were still perfecting the use of color in their films.

I am grateful for what Peeping Tom is, even though at the end I was disappointed for what it wasn’t, but that is just me and cultural difference of my modern age and the modern age of the 60’s. It is still a bizarre film, an experimental one, so if you want to see something unusual it is worth a watch, but if you are looking for any kind of payoff in violence or plot, you’re better off watching something else.

The State of Aggression Address - Instant Winners

There is only so much kindness I can feign before the stupidity around me sends me into a self-induced stress coma, but I do feel that it is about time for my State of Aggression Address.

I make no secret about my disgust for politics. I don’t need anyone to tell me that the hundreds of voting festivals that would be better served for bukaki bazaars – oh, wait, that’s exactly what voting is – rather, voting booths would be best served as portable bathroom units for the terminally defecate, people that literally shit themselves to death that way before they die, they know their final flatulent moments are spent speaking the minds of millions of Americans across the nation and many more millions of voters across the world.

No one needs to tell me the types of political gophers (there are no leaders anymore) we are going to have, locally or nationally. All anyone has to do is learn what type of majority turn out to vote – the blissfully ignorant. The same people who believe that anyone that campaigned in their city, debated on their television, and skull-fucked a Muslim orphan calling it War on Terror, an amendment to the Patriot Act, or a Catholic brunch believes that these power mad bureaucrats with butt plugs and fetish balls stuffed in the same places they keep their morals have any intent of bettering our society for all races and social stratums.

While the rich benefit from voter turnout, the mythical middle class are the ones that vote for better social standards and thanks to votes by the rich and the destitute who think the rich have any of their best interests in mind, the mythical middle class are the ones who get ass-raped by government workers wearing strap-on dildos laced with broken glass with all of our blood being fed to support the rich so they can continue running welfare scams to support the destitute, because THAT is what the majority voted.

Other people that deserve what they get - overly proud parents with access to social media. I have no children, and the more I see of these people living nauseatingly vicariously through their kids I am thankful to Sweet Zombie Jesus that I am childless. If you are a proud parent, great, but do I really need to know what you’re little dumpling scored on their alphabet test – no – I just need to know they’re not going to try and mug me at some point in the future with an infected syringe demanding me to piss in their eyes because the crystal meth they’re tweaking on left them without any sensation in their faces, or that their cute ragamuffin has grown a liking to choking small animals and disemboweling them with pizza slicer and using their husk as a crotch cozy that talks to them about career options. I applaud you for being a responsible parent, we need more like you, but nobody gives a fuck about your kids.

On the other extreme are these haughty, insecure wastes of sperm that report to all eight-hundred of their cyber-friends (793 of whom they’ve never met) that they are bored. “Dear Facebook, I’m bored.” You’re bored, and you have the gall to believe that any of us give a flick of pubic hair that you are bored. Kill yourself. None of us will be bored any more and you will have obtained ultimate purpose – entertaining others.

You’re bored. So, instead of going out to find enlightenment of some kind, whether reading a book or, hey, maybe looking up the answer to a question you’ve had in your head on the most powerfully informative device ever created – the internet – you choose to use this technological marvel to inform the functioning population of the world that you are bored. How about a game of Cuban Roulette? Six chambers, six bullets – instant winners.

Also, people that call in to work three times a week, and then complain on payday about their check being so low – instant winners.

When I was young and told my mother I was bored, she beat the shit out of me. “Why are you crying, you’re not bored anymore are you?!” Then she’d give me whatever object she was beating me with and say, “Here, go learn about this and how many different ways to use it. You already have a head start. You know it’s used to beat stupid bored bastards.”

The one social nitch that I am tired of killing themselves, believe it or not I can display some emotional discipline, are these young kids being bullied. It saddens me. They'll never comprehend what it is to see the most beautiful sunset of their life. They'll never understand unconditional love, like their parents have for them, but at the same time - LEARN TO THROW A FUCKING PUNCH. That might help your bully issue. Kids are so afraid of getting their butts kicked these days unless it's behind a computer program. Gouge an eye, wait until the bullying bastard has turned around and bash their brain in with a brick - have some damn pride, stand up for yourself. Parents, what the hell? That's partially why kids don't want to fight back, parents don't hit their kids anymore. You grow up on a healthy dose of discipline by the hand and mind, a bully's assault has got nothing on mom's backhand.

The future is going to be ugly. We, the human race, are ensuring an ugly scenario every day, but in order to heal first we must bleed. I don’t expect any radical changes any time soon. The world is not going to end, there will be some massive tectonic shifts in continents causing millions of deaths, but that’s just Mother Nature doing what comes naturally. Earth was here before we were and will be here long after our sad, biological presence has long disappeared into the oceans from whence it came, only for the whole damn thing to start all over again.

History repeats itself; we’re all just too stupid to learn from it. If I have offended you, you probably deserved it. We owe it to ourselves and these wonderful things called minds to be creative and not just in new ways to destroy things, but to make things better. Everyday, we can make just one particle of our life better.

Super Bowl XLVI - The Irony Bowl

The match is set for Super Bowl XLVI (46) and attending the combative soiree are two familiar faces – The New York Giants vs. The New England Patriots, an excitable rematch from what was an electrifying Super Bowl XLII (42).

Super Bowl XLII was memorable for more than the game, the storyline of the Patriots’ undefeated season being contested and the championship debut for Eli Manning whom back then was still considered Peyton’s little brother. Four years later the tables have not only turned on Peyton, there’s a buzz saw slicing right through his career as Eli has a chance to surpass his older brother in Super Bowl victories, and he can do it in big brothers home field in a year where Peyton was sidelined due to a lingering neck injury and there are questions of whether the Colts will even keep him and whether he can ever play football ever again.

The Indianapolis Colts’ own Lucas Oil Stadium is hosting the big game, so to think that the Giants might not have just a hint of home field advantage would not be absurd considering the ups and downs that Tom Brady and the Patriots have instigated with their rivalry against the Colts, but you better believe that both Tom Brady and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick are seeking vindication for their failure to obtain the seemingly unobtainable perfect record, and you can best be sure they are out for blood.

I’m hesitant to dub this year’s Super Bowl as The Irony Bowl. Not only do both teams have close ties to Peyton Manning and the Colts with the game to be played in their backyard, once again we have a meeting of two former protégé’s of the great Bill Parcels – Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick - with both teams entering the championship game in much the same fashion as they did four years ago. The Patriots were riding high, soaring over teams heads in points and outperforming them while the Giants, with Tom Coughlin’s job in jeopardy like it was then, buckling down, circling the wagons, and smashing teams in the mouth to get there.

The way the two teams reached the Super Bowl this year is also ironic. The Patriots won because the Baltimore Ravens, coached by Jim Harbaugh, had their kicker Billy Cunduf go wide left on a game-tying field goal attempt while the Giants’ kicker Lawrence Tynes sent the game winner against Jim's brother John Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers through the uprights like he did four years ago on the road (again) against the Green Bay Packers to get his team to the title match.

Many more stories will unfold over these next two anticipatory weeks, but there is already something eclectic and magical circulating in the air, and hopefully Super Bowl XLVI can be just as intense as these stories and the game that preceded it.  

Double Barrel's Interview on Zombie Evolution

Dumb Shit: “Check, check…okay….sounds good. Are you ready Mr. Earhart?”

Earhart: “You wanna get yer fingers outta my face, son?”

Dumb Shit: “Well, uhm, y’see my hand’s modified, I, uh – god, your eye is really weird – I,mmm… modified it over the summer to be an all-purpose-media device; microphone and additional plugs in the fingers, audio and text editing in my palm, full control on my backhand. I installed stage lighting into my synth-retinas here in my right eye, next to the video recording apps in my temple It’s really – OW! GEEZ, you didn’t have to yank it off like that! It hurt!”

Earhart: “A lot, I hope. Now, you only need one microphone as far as I’m concerned, so I’ll just fix it up to my liking.

“There we go.

“Test, 1, 2…You hear me?”

Dumb Shit: “Loud and clear. The middle finger works quite well as a microphone. You don’t have to direct it straight at me all the time though.”

Earhart:  “Oh, but I feel I do. I really, really do.

“Now, you wanted to know about the evolution of these new zombies, zat right?

Dumb Shit: “Yes, sir. Nowadays, they look almost like any human alive, some have passed right through crowds and cities and were not spotted until it was too late. They started attacking people for their flesh; when did it all change?”

Earhart: “It was probably about twelve years ago. I was with a group of the South Texas population making their way through Missouri. They had requested our expertise in fortifying their villages.

 The zombie population was dwindling. They weren’t scarce by any means, I’m just sayin’ the length of time between encounters with zombie packs were getting longer. There was no doubt in my mind that the zombie population was definitely dwindling.

“You five-knuckle-shuffle with this all-purpose-media-device, son?

Dumb Shit: “What?”

Earhart: “Crank the shaft? Turbine the engine? Launch the red rocket?”

Dumb Shit: “……uuuuhhh”

Earhart: “Oh, Jesus; nevermind. Anyways, we’d been hearing tales from other wanderers that there had been a shift in the zombies’ genetics; that they were now reproducing on their own. I chalked it up to the typical grapevine syndrome – somebody says something and by the time it passes between a few dozen people and three states the story was nothing like the original – but that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna keep an open mind. “

Dumb Shit: “Sir, I realize my microphone finger extends, but could you please not use the rest of my hand to scratch your groin?....awww, what is that? ”

Earhart: “Oh, shit; forgot it wasn’t mine. Now, we were about twenty miles from the Eldon camp when we ran into a small zombie tribe, about five of’em, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t see it for my own eyes. 

“Y’see, four of’em came at us. Two of’em were the old, slow kind. One of’em was a speedster, but still stupid; no tactics. The fourth was another slow one, but this one tried circling around us for a better vantage point. Of course none of’em were a challenge, we picked’em off quickly, cleanly.

“The fifth one….fifth one was a woman. She was missing half a face, missing an arm, and one of her legs just below the knee. She’s wriggling and rolling around on the ground. None of us can figure out what’s wrong with her. She finally stops, she’s on her back. He stomach begins expanding until it tears wide open, and out comes this tiny, fully functioning - - I don’t even wanna call it a baby, but it was a baby zombie, not a zombie baby – that’s something different. This was a baby zombie.

Dumb Shit: “Your math doesn't add up, but what do you mean by fully functioning?”

Earhart: “This thing WAS the fifth! Dumb Shit! Walking; not perfectly, but it had enough sense and intelligence for muscle control. While it’s stumbling about we’re all in shock not noticing the mother trying to shove her guts back into her stomach. She does so, gets up off the ground and charges right at us. Nearly bit Bilo, but Sara was able to put a shotgun shell in the thing’s skull before then.

“Once momma was down, we set out to catch the kid, wound up snagging him with our trap-nets. Looked ungodly, it did. Gray mushy skin felt like thick jelly; already had teeth too.

“Wipe that I-just-saw-and-elephant-dick-look off yer face son; it’s only teeth on a newborn zombie. Natural selection, whaddya expect?

“Don’t you be giving me that look yer givin’ me now, I’ll yank that retinal-recorder outta yer socket and globally broadcast the biggest ass-whoppin yer sad, techno-pussy generation’s ever seen.

“That was my first encounter. Had many more through the years, but seeing as how zombies had become a mainstay in the natural order of things, they began to evolve. It wasn’t just women birthing these things, men were too. “

Dum Shit: “Zombie men and zombie women, correct?”

Earhart: “………..

“You sure you came outta yer mother’s vagina, boy? You sure she didn’t shit you out, cause only a dumb-shit would ask that question. Or maybe, just maybe she shit you out of her vagina. You were meant to be a turd but her body got mixed up and sent you through meiosis and thus was born the first ever turd baby named Dumb Shit.

“Yes. Zombie men and zombie women, and the more intact the surrogate zombie was the better condition the baby came out. And, I mean they were new and improved. They grew quickly, they felt no pain, they didn’t have to breathe; they were now thinking, flesh-eating machines.

“Society was still able to make progress, we have towns back, regular communities, businesses going again, but with the zombie evolution – it’s like living with fear of communist spies again, only instead of giving secrets to the Kremlin, these invaders will eat your face.

“That’s all I got for you fer today. Here’s yer hand back. It thinks yer number one, heh heh.”

Dumb Shit: “Well, thank you sir….ow….uh, your insight is very valuable. Again, thank you…uh…this is going to make for a great article in the science magazine. Your contributions certainly be remembered and honored in the future.

Earhart: “I don’t give a fuck. You drink beer, Dumb Shit?”

Dumb Shit: “Well, no, yuh see the alcohol isn’t good for my body modifications and….”

END SIGNAL

Harry Brown - Movie Review

Harry Brown is a retired, ex-serviceman who in the last winters of his years is losing everyone close to him. Shortly after his wife Kath passes away, his last good friend Leonard is murdered by ravenous street thugs. Leanord’s case is being led by D.I. Alice Frampton and her partner D.S. Terry Hicock. As the investigation drags on the police have no good news for Harry; they have suspects but no evidence or motive, but Harry knows how to find the bastards that killed his friend and he means to see that Leanord is served justice one way or another.

It was good to see Michael Caine in some kind of crime drama again as back in his early years he tended to play the wise-talking, hard knuckled gangster. In Harry Brown, he is once again out for revenge, but he is delivering it from a bystander’s perspective. At first, there are slight similarities to Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino with the elderly war veteran taking arms against the local hoodlums, but Harry isn’t seeking redemption and there is no social commentary hidden within the film; this is strictly a revenge flick. Harry goes deep into the muck of society, meeting with drug dealers and gun runners; taking prisoners and enthusiastically torturing them in order to obtain the answers he is after.

Emily Mortimer (or as I like to say, the eternally adorable Emily Mortimer) plays the morally astute Detective Frampton next to Charlie Creed Miles as her partner Detective Hicock who doesn’t mind turning the other cheek since he figures Harry is doing them a favor.

All the performances are standard; well played with no real standouts. It is interesting to see how a man of Harry’s age and physically limited condition deals with highly intense situations such as shootouts and standoffs. Harry Brown doesn’t do anything new. It’s a nicely told revenge flick with a small, very important twist, like most crime stories have, and there are far worse movies out there to be seen. Harry Brown is worth at least one chance. You might not be overly impressed, but you won’t be bored.

Plus, the end credits are supported by a very cool song by Chase and Status.

Daughters of Darkness - Movie Review

One alluring night after getting married, a newlywed couple takes temporary residence in an ocean-side vacation resort. That same evening, the mysteriously enchanting Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her gorgeous assistant Ilona (Andrea Rau) arrive as well, and their appearance strikes a befuddling memory with the innkeeper as he swears that Countess Bathory had stayed at that resort forty years ago and she looks exactly the same now as she did then.

The newlyweds, Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) share a few encounters with Countess Bathory and Ilona with each meeting brushing off the dust over the secrets that Stefan and Valarie have hidden from one another. Soon, their perfect getaway is becoming a sadistic nightmare with Elizabeth Bathory fiddling with the strings to this macabre puppet show whom herself is being pursued by a detective who’s eyeing Elizabeth Bathory as his prime suspect for a slew of virgin corpses that have been discovered all across the shoreline.

Daughters of Darkness (1971) was released around the time when films of its like were considered nothing more than European sleaze with a few credits towards artistic merit, like the majority of Jess Franco’s and Jean Rollin’s movies. With Daughters of Darkness, director Harry Kumel succeeds in that crossover appeal. It is a beautiful film to watch; shot with elegance and elaborate settings with a superior use of color and artistic imagination.

For someone wanting a blood and guts shower hour this is certainly not the film for them. The pacing is slow and will surely be considered a boring film by someone yearning for a hefty body count. In actuality this movie is a well crafted character piece with new layers of each person being revealed with every scene. Particularly impressive is Delphine Seyrig as a vampire version of the real life “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory. She approaches the character as a ten ton hammer wrapped up in subtle confidence and vivacious seduction. She suckered even me in with her deadly charm. There are a few shocks and nude shots to appease a general horror fan, but even the nude shots are done with class as they add to the atmosphere and not just for cheap thrills.

If the slow storytelling doesn’t throw you off then I hope patience will reward you as it did me. Daughters of Darkness is filled with a small array of interesting characters filmed in a lavishly imaginative manner.

The Wave (Die Welle) - Movie Review

It is project week at the German high school where the student-popular Rainer Wenger teaches. For the next two weeks he must construct a project for his self-assigned students to complete. He hoped to teach the class on anarchy but to his disappointment Wenger was assigned autocracy. His sullied mood upswings, however, when the students become more invested in the project than he first thought possible, so Wenger challenges the class to experience what life is like under a dictatorship. Everyone is excited at first, but soon the entertaining project begins morphing the unified class into a legion reminiscent of Germany’s dark history.

The Wave (Die Welle) is based on the novel of the same name by Todd Strasser. The movie was brought to life, written and directed by Dennis Gansel (We Are the Night). There is near-perfect casting in the movie, particularly Jurgen Vogel as the rambunctious, unorthodox educator chided by most of his co-workers. Max Riemelt is the handsome popular athlete in Marco with the iron willed girlfriend Karo (Jennifer Ulrich). Frederick Lau portrays the socially awkward, fragile soul Tim who will go to extreme lengths to gain any kind of satisfactory acceptance among his peers and does a good job as he just looks the part and it seems to fit him naturally.

The problem with The Wave is that the story feels forced with too many intangibles working it he favor of the student’s united front. Some of these teenagers have known one another their whole lives and never spoken since childhood, others have only met in high school, but they all have their own social circles that rarely transcend one another, and in less than a week this assemblage of teenagers from every social status – the rich, the poor, the broken homes, the perfect portrait – all unite under a single sign in a vow to keep order and protect one another, and all for a school project. There was not enough elaboration into the purpose of the movement that justified the sudden fanatical endearment in their behavior.

The Wave is directed well, the cast is great, and while the idea is intriguing (particularly for me and my personal interest in German sociology in the post-Nazi era) the heart of the story lacks any support from the information and actions provided turning the movie into a tolerable cliché.

Waxwork - a Reflection

A new wax exhibit has opened in town and Mark and his friends have been invited by the strange owner for a special midnight showing. Once they arrive they seem to be abandoned, free to explore the house at their will as one by bone they get sucked into the lives of the displays.

I was probably between eleven or thirteen when I first saw Waxwork. It was at the video store and the cover looked so damn cool. It had Zach Galligan from Gremlins, I figured why not. The movie ended up being everything I love about cheesy horror - terrible acting, complete disregard for story continuity, impressive special effects, and sweet gore with the occasional boob shot. It also introduced me to David Warner who wound up being a mainstay amongst most of my favorite pop culture phenomena. He usually played a villain, but he did a lot of voice acting in cartoons. He was excellent as the voice of Ra’s al Ghul in Batman: the Animated Series and was hilarious as the clueless Lobe on the short-lived Freakazoid cartoon.  

I liked the idea behind Waxwork, a cult craving immortality that lures victims into their living, trans-dimensional traps. The story brought together some of the greatest madmen of history and literature despite some awful makeup and costume designs. Johns-Ryes Davies (Lord of the Rings) played a werewolf, Miles O’Keefe (Iron Warrior) portrayed a comically awkward Dracula thanks to bad acting not the plot, and J. Kenneth Campbell (Abyss) was a sleazy, unkempt Marquis de Sade. The whole movie was bizarre enough yet not to be outdone by the climax which is an all out brawl between the wax figures and a wild pack of senior citizens and some of the worst swordsmanship feigned onscreen.

Anthony Hickox accomplished what most horror creators could hope for; making a memorable movie on a budget that a child’s neighborhood lemonade stand could probably double during the summertime, but there is every sense of determined passion behind it all. Hickox went on to direct some finer horror films such as Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Warlock 2: The Armogeddon, and has maintained a steady directorial career in movies and television.

Waxwork is by no means a perfect film, but it is entertaining and a beloved horror film. In fact, Waxwork was so beloved it spawned a sequel – Waxwork II: Lost in Time. How could it get any better? Two words - Bruce Campbell.

Isolation - Movie Review

On a failing Irish farm, the owner Dan (John Lynch; Hardware, Sliding Doors) has agreed to allow Bovine Genetics Technology to run genetic experiments on his stock meant to increase the fertility of cows, causing them to reproduce quicker. Aided by a veterinarian Orla (Essie Davis; The Matrix sequels), Dan notices one of his cows having difficulty birthing its calf. During a routine examination inside the pregnant cow the calf bights Orla. Dan also notices two strangers parked in front of his farm entrance. They happen to be young lovers Jamie (Sean Harris) and Mary (Ruth Negga) on the run from Mary’s family who disapprove of their relationship. That evening, the pregnant cow is ready to fully birth the calf but is having difficulty, so he asks the young couple for help while they wait for Orla. After the calf is born it bights Dan, forcing Orla to kill it off as she has determined they have made a genetic anomaly. Even stranger, during the autopsy of the newborn they come across a pregnant fetus. Outraged over what they have helped create, Orla tries to destroy all of the abominations, but one escapes. Cows soon become targets for the creature and it is only a matter of time before the humans are next.

When dealing with killer animal movies, you can never be sure how seriously to estimate the material. Undoubtedly, director/writer Billy O’Brien was telling a dark story, perhaps even trying to make a statement about mankind’s foolish ways, messing with Mother Nature; regardless his intentions were legitimately fierce, unfortunately the outcome wasn’t anywhere nearly as ferocious.

The physical, cinematic tone of the film is executed well. The Irish farmland is nothing short of a gray, dank marsh with muddy pitfalls all around. It looks like rain could fall at any second and O’Brien worked those small details perfectly into the movie with the dull lighting, the kind that has become a practical mainstay in Lions Gate horror, but once Isolation got to the heart and gore of the story, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. The fetus babies looked like jumbo shrimp twirled in plastic wrap. When the people are doing battle with the creature, I feel like they’re fighting an improperly sewn muppet rather than a bloodthirsty, genetic mishap. Plus, the limited plot is not expanded well enough for a ninety minute movie. It would have been better off as part of an anthology series instead of its own feature. This is where lack of character development really hurts horror films (all films). Blood and guts alone don’t work unless you have some relatable substance to meld with either the killer or the victims.

I’m an animal lover and I could’ve cared less if they killed the little bastard or not, same as if it ate all of the people on the farm.  All Isolation did was leave me craving a mighty fine hamburger, but like a poorly made burger, Isolation has a nice look, but no sizzle.

City Voices

Wired around the torso and sedated, I was waiting only for the mask. Athono asked if I wanted the full guard or only the half-piece. I chose the full guard for comfort. The sedatives took longer to begin working; I was gaining a tolerance to them, but soon I wouldn’t need them at all.

I closed my eyes. I opened my eyes. I was in the dream state. The whispers I heard when I was awake were now the shouts I implied to soften. 7^th street ached for repaving. Each day the potholes sank deeper into the gravel flesh as cars with foolish drivers couldn’t swerve away from the large voids in the street.

The Meintz-Leanord Trading Tower urged for someone to stabilize its foundation. The depletion of the original mineral resources beneath its foundation had left empty cavernous layers. The tower stressed that it had begun shaking. The building personnel shrugged the tremors off to fault lines of which there were none for over eight-thousand miles but it was the stress of a multi-ton building erect over hollow ground.

A damaged lamp post in the Lacosta district wondered when the city workers were going to take it down. A drunk driver had swerved into it two weeks ago, bending it; leaving it in constant agony. Meanwhile, a house in the neighborhood called La Chuza cried. The dad was beating the mother again after knocking the daughter unconscious in kitchen.

The Mithune Hotel shouted that a murder was happening on the fifth floor. The serial killer known as The Red Lace Romeo was in the midst of carving another victim.

This is my city. I am its shaman. I hear everything.

A bout portant (Point Blank) - Movie Review

Samuel Barriet (Gilles Lellouche) is a nurse’s aide, a husband, and soon a father. While working a night shift, Samuel notices a stranger meddling with one of the I.C.U. patients’ stations. Before he can confront the man, the patient’s vitals begin crashing but Samuel is able to save him. The next day, he and his wife Nadia (Elena Anaya), who is nine months pregnant, begin their daily routines when Samuel is maliciously attacked by an unknown intruder and knocked unconscious. He awakens next to a cell phone. On the other end of the line is Nadia pleading for mercy; then a deep voice interrupts and explains the situation. In the next three hours, Samuel must free the patient he saved the night before from the hospital which is now overrun with policemen. Once the job is done Nadia will be returned. The catch is that this patient is Hugo Sartet (Roschdy Zem) a well known master thief that is being hunted by a third party because of evidence he possesses that would incriminate a popular city tycoon and a corrupt police unit. Samuel and Hugo soon find themselves on the run from criminals and the police with only a short amount of time to earn each others’ trust.

The plot is simple and familiar, so when it comes to making these suspense thrillers is the quality of execution from the people involved. Gilles Lellouche’s performance as a common man thrown into a radically uncommon situation is superb. His facial expressions holster a constant worry. Even when he believes he is taking charge of the scenario you’re watching a man that could lose his cool and either break down and cry or just shoot everyone that is in his sights. Roschdy Zem is perfectly cast as the slick cat burglar who proves that there is still honor among thieves, but even this thief isn’t afraid to pull the trigger when necessary. Complementing both men is Gerard Lanvin as the corrupt Commandant Patrick Werner. This policeman has no qualms with breaking every rule and murdering any witness to protect him and his crew, and Lanvin’s glassy stare and stone faced jaw emit pure apathy; you don’t know what he is thinking which makes him a very dangerous man.

Director/Writer Fred Cavaye handles the action scenes sensibly, accurately, and at a whirlwind pace that doesn’t harm the story one bit. You catch everything that is happening from the drawn out chase scenes to the close quarters combat spots. He captures all of it with a fine linear texture so you do not miss a beat. I wish more directors would do this instead forsaking a great actions sequence for that annoying shaky camera effect.

A bout portant (Point Blank) is a time well spent and does a great job of showing how an average individual with absolutely no fighting skills or street smarts would react in a hyper-chaotic situation. Like any movie there are a few intangibles that might work in the antagonist’s favor, but who is to say that people become great thieves because they prefer not to kill. I would definitely recommend this film before an American studio picks it up and rapes the story of all of its humanity, leaving only yet another soulless Mark Wahlberg movie. A bout portant is much better than that.

Bodyguards and Assassins - Movie Review

In the year 1905, China is still under British authority in the midst of the Qing Dynasty. The leading revolutionary Sun Wen intends to visit the British colony Hong Kong in order to discuss a revolt against the monarchy with fellow Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) members. Empress Dowager Cixi learns of Sun Wen’s plans and dispatches an armada of assassins to kill Sun Wen upon his arrival.

Chen Shobai, editor of China Daily and a lead revolutionary, arrives a few days before Sun Wen in order to discuss funding for the revolution with local businessman Li Yutang (Wang Xueqi), who has lately been arguing with his son Li Chongguang over Chongguang’s recent involvement in revolutionary protests. Within the next few days, all of Shobai’s associates are being murdered and soon Shobai himself is kidnapped. Li Yutang feels that he has no choice but to declare himself in league with the Tongmenghui and begins recruiting a group of China’s best fighters to protect Sun Wen when he arrives.

Sum Chung-yang is a police officer with a gambling addiction, Wang Fu-ming is a disgraced monk bent on proving his goodness to the world – all of these people from all walks of life willing to put their lives on the line for someone that they have never met, but does provide a ray of hope in overthrowing the corrupt Qing dynasty. It is Li Yutang’s intent to see that these men and the rest that have volunteered to gain in life what they seek, whether it is love or redemption, because they all know that there is very little chance of anyone making it out alive once the battle begins.

Bodyguards and Assassins blends reality and fiction to tell an engaging story focusing on the costs of accomplishing the impossible. Wang Xueqi (The Red Suit) leads an all-star cast that includes popular singer and actor Leon Lai (Seven Swords) and martial arts sensation Donnie Yen (IP Man). Mengkee Bateer and Simon Yam also co-star.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting into when I began as I had chosen the film because I am a big Donnie Yen fan. Halfway through the movie (which is over two hours long) not a single fight had occurred but I didn’t care. I was mesmerized by the tale and Wang Xueqi’s performance was drawing me further into understanding the thin line that he and his fellow revolutionary compatriots walked every day. Bodyguards and Assassins is a great dramatic piece from actor/director Teddy Chan (director; The Accidental Spy), and as a bonus there is an excellent fight scene between Donnie Yen and popular mixed martial arts fighter Cung Le where they each get to unleash their spectacular martial arts skills against one another, so there is definitely something in this movie for everyone to appreciate.

Post-Contagion Playground Soliloquy

"Excuse me, are you lost?" I heard a woman’s voice through the light, tattering rain. Her hair was dark with frosted streaks. Staring in between her locks reminded me of being in prison which is where I thought I had been, talking myself to sleep. Instead I was in my old neighborhood, in the middle of our playground that used to be our universe.

"No," I replied, still believing that I was falling asleep in prison, thinking I was dreaming about standing in the midst of a dark gray day in the my dress clothes covered by my black trench coat.

"Did you used to live around here?” Her voice wavered from compassionate to careful. “Have you been gone a while?"

"I have." I looked away from her voice, never wanting to see into her eyes.

I stayed silent until she walked away.

I stared at the spot where my brother and I used to play. The ground was greener now. Before we had green patches spread out amongst regions of dirt. The air was cleaner. I could suck in a stomach's full and not gag from the fumes of incinerated corpses, dead from the Red Devil Virus.

Pregnant women were actually allowed outside again, which was a big surprise to me. I saw one showing off her unborn child through her ultrasound-shirt. I didn't check the display label to see if it was a boy or a girl, I was relieved to see that it didn't have a head and a half, or a third limb shaped like a talon.

Times have changed. The people are nicer, the planet is richer, and I'm still no closer to belonging in it than I was before my incarceration. But my brother and I, we never belonged. We just did enough to make other people think we did, plastering the right smiles at the right times, but we were always different, always would be. We didn’t care about anyone else because in our family’s line of work, you could only trust family. Now, all of my family is gone and there’s nothing left to do but adapt. Luckily, my family’s profession is still a necessity in this new, cleaner world.

Every one with money still wants someone with more money dead. That will never change.

Bunraku - Movie Review

Bunraku falls upon the backdrop of a world where guns are forbidden, replaced by the blade as the primary weapon of choice. The story introduces us to The Drifter (Josh Hartnett; The Faculty) who fancies himself quite the gambler and is looking to get in on the biggest poker game in town which is run by the overpowering overlord of the land, Nicola (Ron Perlman; Sons of Anarchy). Meanwhile, a young samurai named Yoshi (Gakt) seeks to obtain a precious medallion stolen by Nicola and his band of nine assassins.

While having a drink at the local bar, Yoshi and The Drifter come to realize that they share a foe, and the more Yoshi learns about The Drifter, the more personal his intentions appear. Together with the aid of the Bartender (Woody Harrelson; Natural Born Killers), the three men comprise a plan to overthrow Nicola, his army of Red Suits, and his nine assassins.

Bunraku is a genre-bending piece of work that is undoubtedly inspired by a love of Western comics and Eastern manga. The brightly colored lighting is reminiscent of Dick Tracy while the story and dialect could have been torn from the pages of Frank Miller’s Sin City while the entire package is wrapped up under a crisp, divine martial arts flare. The entire film was shot on a sound stage using backdrops that one might associate with a lavish college production but is done so intentionally in tribute to the visual inspirations which withdrew unfortunate flashbacks to Joel Schumacher’s tenure on the Batman franchise. There were times when you weren’t sure if whether a fight or a dance number was about to ensue.

The movie is director Guy Moshe’s second full length feature from his own script, but inspired by a Boaz Davidson story who is responsible for many of SyFy Channel’s own movies. The movie looks hokey at times, menacing in others. The pacing during some of the dialogue is slow which wouldn’t be a problem if the dialogue wasn’t so drab and at times difficult to comprehend. Many actors try to play their characters as cool, deep, and soft spoken like Marlon Brando would when some of them may have benefitted more from a loud and cantankerous John Wayne approach. The gang rumbles are staged well but it’s the one-on-one fights that’ll have you rolling your eyes a bit. Josh Hartnett didn’t try nor pretend to be some master martial artist; he stayed within his own realm of finely tuned hand to hand combat. Killer No. 2 (Kevin McKidd; Dog Soldiers), however, is supposed to be a master of the blade and the fist, but his fight scenes were choreographed and shot at a slow, paint-by-numbers pace, causing his tyrannical moments to suffer and appear unthreatening.

The movie was a nice attempt at doing something fun, and paying tribute to genre’s that have helped make filmmaking a beloved art form, unfortunately at over two hours long there is something to be said for keeping things simple, whether it is the visuals or the story. Bunraku is worth a viewing, particularly if you enjoy the cast which also includes Demi Moore and Mike Patton (singer; Faith No More) as the narrator, but don’t expect to be at the edge of your seat the entire time for as much as Bunraku tries to be a helping dose of coolness, it tends to trip over itself into a bearable, lukewarm offering.

13 Assassins - Movie Review

In 1840’s Japan, the winding days of the samurai, the ruthless Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira has risen to power and is about to become the elite member of the shogunate where he will abuse his power in merciless ways in order to maintain the loyalty and obedience of his people. A concerned servant sets out to find Shinzaemon Shimada, a sword-for-hire, hoping that he will assist in the matter.

 After hearing tales of the lord’s vile actions towards his servants, such as the rape of a wife and the playful killing of a family, and after observing the aftermath of his work firsthand by visiting with a young girl whom the lord severed limbless for sheer pleasure, Shimada agrees to kill Naritsugu. In doing so, he requires help and enlists the aid of twelve other samurai, some with loyalties to their own lords, others wandering ronin, but all with one duty. Kill Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira.

13 Assassins marks another turn in the work of director Takashi Miike, best known for his insanely violent films such as Ichi the Killer and Izo, but his entire filming career has touched every film genre from gangster films (The Third Gangster)  to family friendly ones (Ninja Kids!!!).

This is very much a traditional samurai film, and an entertaining one. Miike’s trademark over the top violence has been traded in for a realistic approach to the natural bloodbaths that occur with a samurai battle. The film works as a character piece with the story focusing on the quickly developing relationships between all of these hired assassins and their outlooks on life and death, and how some of them still uphold the pride in honor of being a samurai while others feel the weight of the title taking an unbearable toll on their lives, but as men they still know what is right and wrong. It shows the spoils of power and its ability to morally corrupt those that have too much and how those with little power but great trust in their own merits withhold the meaning of honor and justice; all of it well performed by the ensemble cast.

If someone is a Takashi Miike fan because of his bizarre film nature and gruesome cinematic exploits, then they will be disappointed because that is not to be found in 13 Assassins, but if someone is a fan of Takshi Miike because of his brilliance of storytelling and good filmmaking, they are sure to be entertained and hopefully even consider on which side their own morals stand these days.

We Are the Night - Movie Review

During the day, the city of Berlin runs like any other, following the rules of federal and local decree, but once the sun goes down the night management takes control and they do not allow any form of authority to tell them what to do.

Throughout the centuries a vampire coven trio has banded together in order to seek the greatest pleasures out of life that only immortality can bring. Louise (Nina Hoss) – the leader, Charlotte (Jennifer Ulrich) – the sensible one, and Nora (Anna Fischer) – the carefree spirit; together they have survived and thrived in the lapse of luxury but now Louise feels that it is time to find a new member, someone that she hopes will love her.

The new prospect is a troubled young woman named Lena (Karoline Herfurth). She is on probation for car theft and spends her days scouring the streets pick-pocketing and hustling people out of their money. After an incidental run in with a narcotics detectives, Lena winds up at Louise’s night club where Louise takes an immediate attraction to her and vows to change her life forever, forcing her into the life of vampirism. Complicating the issue is the narcotics detective Tom (Max Riemelt) who notices the change in Lena’s looks and health, meanwhile, Lena begins changing the harmonious status of the coven as she reminds them what it was to once be human, to have emotions, and to care about life.

After watching the trailer for We Are the Night several months ago, I thought I had an idea as to what I was getting into. I was only half right, and that being said I’m glad I was because both halves blew me away.

While the movie plays up to the gothic aspects of a vampire’s impression the audience is not beaten over the head with the ideals and textures of it all. The film is as close to realistic in tone as it can be for a movie about immortal blood suckers and at times does not feel like a horror movie at all. There are wonderfully constructed dramatic scenarios as the characters are fleshed out (pun intended) to reveal their true human natures (Charlotte was my favorite), a great extended action sequence; all of it making for a well paced, finely directed film with wonderful cinematography.

Dennis Gansel directed the movie from his story that was scripted by him and Jan Berger, and most of the actors and actresses have worked with Gansel before in another movie he directed, The Wave. There was great chemistry throughout the movie in front of the camera and what was happening behind it; all of that benefitting what was the making of a good movie that may be classified as horror but it lends itself to all genres, and the fact that I’m still thinking about it is one of the best things any kind of movie can do.

YellowBrickRoad - Movie Review

In the year of 1940, the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire gathered together and began walking a winding northern trail. The town was left emptied. A U.S. Army dispatch unit was sent to find them, but all they found were three-hundred dead bodies of some of the Friar’s citizens. A few of them had frozen to death while others had been mysteriously slaughtered, and except for one lone survivor the rest of the town disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.

In the year 2008, the incident at Friar had been toned down to merely stuff of backwoods legend, but the new population never dared enter the same woods, but now a team of curious enthusiasts have come together on the first official expedition of this trail in hopes of solving the mystery of what happened to the people of Friar, New Hampshire.

Once they set off into the woods their only reliability is one another, but soon it seems like the woods begin playing with their minds. The trajectories going forward are completely different when they try tracking their way back. Loud music begins playing from all directions without a single speaker or audio system in sight, filling the travelers’ ears with old rag time music and at times bludgeoning their minds with thunderous, chaotic noises.

One by one, they begin falling prey to the contagious madness that seems to not just be spread throughout the woods, but is emanating from the very air they breathe and the land they roam, and soon they begin setting their frustrations and aggressions on each other.

YellowBrickRoad is not a fake documentary like The Blair Witch Project but it could have worked as one, at least for the majority of the movie. The ensemble cast worked well enough together to where you knew they wanted to kill each other but whether they ever really like one another is another question. The directors/screenwriters Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton did a fantastic job of using the landscape to their advantage whether if it was showing tension from feeling confined despite being in such a giant vacuum of open land, or from feeling completely hopeless when all you see is just more fields to cross in every direction.

There is really only one scene that embraces the brutality of a crew members insanity, the rest of the time it is merely implied violence or light on the bloodshed which actually fits the movie really well since it is about the atmosphere of this seemingly endless venture. There are a few computer graphic moments that make you laugh rather than stun you because the technology looks completely outdated, but other than those few scenes the rest of the effects are all natural.

YellowBrickRoad is the story of madness; of how good people go insane, and whether you believe that some of them make it out alive or not, you wonder if it even matters at all given the radical state of mind they have succumbed to. At first, I wanted to fast forward to see where it was going but once I settled down and watched these people slowly lose their minds I was intrigued, and for a movie about being lost in the middle of nowhere the pacing was rather steady if only for a couple of scenes that were probably slowed down on purpose. It is a movie, I feel, that you are either going to like it or hate it; there is very little room for in between. I just so happened to like it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a majority that did not.

Kill Katie Malone - Movie Review

The spirit of Halloween has settled in at Mission University. It is a few days before the annual Halloween dance and Jim (Stephen Colletti; One Tree Hill) has fallen for one of the more popular girls on campus. Unfortunately, she’s already involved with someone but doesn’t mind using Jim for small favors, such as helping to decorate for the upcoming dance. Meanwhile, Jim’s two closest friends – his roommate Kyle (Jonathan ‘Lil J’ McDaniel), who’s nickname is Dixie, and Ginger (Masiela Lusha; The George Lopez Show) keep trying to set his head straight and focus on just having fun and passing his classes.

While searching for pointless buys on E-bay, Jim comes across a mysterious box for sale that supposedly contains a ghost that grants wishes for its owner. Jim decides to purchase the box, but after being outbid by another potential buyer he asks Dixie and Ginger for a loan which enables Jim to become the top bidder, although now, technically, all three friends are owners of the box. Once the ox arrives, the darkest desires of the three friends begin taking a toll on the students and faculty at Mission University as the body count begins and will not stop climbing until Jim figures out how to undo what he has unleashed upon the university.

Kill Katie Malone is directed by Carlos Ramos Jr.from a script by him and Mark Onspaugh (writer – Flight of the Living Dead). Both of these men have spent the majority of their careers working on television shows with less than a handful of movies under either of their belts and it really shows throughout the movie. Watching this movie feels like a throwback to the early nineties when David E. Kelly was the hot commodity in Hollywood and the Scream franchise and all of its putrid spawn such as I Know What You Did Last Summer and Teaching Mrs. Tingle were being turned out like fury babies at a rabbit orgy, but at least they had the decency to be rated R, leaving behind bloody messes. Kill Katie Malone has no gore and only a few hints of blood, which I would not mind at all. I generally prefer a good story over pointless bloodletting, but if the story drags and has no sizzle at all, like this one does, then I say bring on the visceral debauchery. There are no scares. The scenes that are supposed to be frightening substitute noise for suspense. There is absolutely zero character buildup. If we were supposed to care about any of these characters, someone forgot to let me know. Non-spoiler spoiler: The climax adds extra lame sauce to the cinematic dish.

The acting is about what you’d expect from a TV cast, sometimes wooden but not completely terrible. The shining light in this whole movie, and I say this strictly as a single male who likes looking at women, is Masiela Lusha in grown figure glory. Her hair is dyed blonde but there is no mistaking those adorable cheeks of hers and those puppy dog eyes. She still has the girl-next-door look but thankfully now she’s all grown up and we get to see just how grown up she is, albeit in a tasteful manner which I respect very much. In reality she is a beautiful young woman of high intelligence, definitely a superior intelligence to the majority of males. It’s a shame she dyed her hair blonde, though, but we do get to see her in a bra to which I say “hooray.”

Kill Katie Malone offers no payoffs whatsoever unless you’re a sexually frustrated - I mean sexual enthusiasm foaming from your ears kind of horny – sad little man. It is background noise at best, and even then you’re better off with music than this movie.