Years ago, Philip Anderson, founder of the great Cinefile Video store in Los Angeles, and designer Bob Bianchini created a genius line of t-shirts that combined the names of auteur directors with the iconic logos of excellent bands: Herzog/Danzig, Bunuel/Bahaus, etc. Today I just noticed this fantastic Stanley Kubrick shirt that references Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity album!
See them all at Cinemetal T-Shirts. Read the rest
The Flu (2013) is available as an Amazon Prime streaming movie.
From the YouTube description:
Read the restThe Flu is the first ever South Korean disaster film about a viral pandemic. It has been garnering much attention after being voted first place in "Most Anticipated Film" survey conducted by Nate for August with a whopping 47%. The highly anticipated disaster film tells the story of panic, despair, and desperate struggle for survival of a hopeless city that has been quarantined and essentially left for dead after the outbreak of a deadly virus. With its realistic portrayal of the horror and chaos that follows a national scale disaster, "The Flu" may just be the film that will make history in the South Korean disaster film genre.
My only complaint about Pixar's new film Soul is that is doesn't come out until June 19. Here's the description:
Read the restJoe Gardner is a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22, who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what’s great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life’s most important questions.
Featuring the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Daveed Diggs, “Soul” is directed by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (“Inside Out,” “Up”), co-directed by Kemp Powers (“One Night in Miami”) and produced by Academy Award nominee Dana Murray (Pixar short “Lou”). Globally renowned musician Jon Batiste will be writing original jazz music for the film, and Oscar-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“The Social Network”), from Nine Inch Nails, will compose an original score that will drift between the real and soul worlds.
There is absolutely nothing in this trailer that doesn't instill me with an intense sense of glee. Read the rest
As a 1970s kid "researching" high weirdness like Bigfoot, ESP, and UFOs at the library, I'd also pick up a bit of background Bermuda Triangle lore. Also known as the "Devil's Triangle," this is roughly the region of the Atlantic ocean between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and the tip of Florida where aircraft and ships reportedly have mysteriously vanished or crashed in disproportionate numbers. (For the classic 1970s TV take on this, watch the episode above of "In Search Of...") While there have been proposed scientific/natural explanations for the phenomena, ranging from compass errors to methane eruptions sinking ships, the Bermuda Triangle remains a fascinating piece of paranormal history. And it looks like Hollywood is finally preparing to fuel the mystery with a big new movie, "Bermuda," directed by Scott Derrickson, best known as the director of Dr. Strange, which I found to be wonderfully weird and psychedelic. From Variety:
Read the rest(Skydance) studio has been working on getting the project off the ground for some time, with Sam Raimi at one point circling the director’s chair. Derrickson will rewrite the script with his writing partner C. Robert Cargill and Derrickson will also exec produce. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn will produce.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, except for the fact that it will be set in the mysterious patch of the Caribbean where planes and ships have gone missing over the years...
The most recent version of the draft was written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp).
Matt Reeves, director of The Batman, just tweeted images of the new Batmobile and it looks like a souped-up 1970s muscle car. Less military, more Mopar. Nice ride, Bruce.
Above: In 1987, TV newsmagazine 20/20 revealed the real horror of horror movies: children watching splatterpunk films on VHS in the comfort of their living rooms!
"Fair warning though: There is some graphic violence in this. But we say that for you, not your kids -- they've probably already seen it."
(via r/ObscureMedia)
Below, The Damned's tribute to the genre, "Nasty" (1984):
In 1982, Jeff Spicoli brought checkerboard Vans beyond the SoCal surf-skate culture and onto the big screen in one of my all-time favorite films, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. (The story goes that Sean Penn had bought shortly before filming began and convinced director Amy Heckerling to let him wear them in the movie.) To celebrate the movie's release, Steve Van Doren, son of the Vans founder Paul Van Doren, made a limited run of special Fast Times slip-ons made to give away at the premiere. Those special pairs have become a holy grail of shoe collectors and now Vans has reissued them. Awesome. Totally awesome. From Vans:
Borrowing details from the original Classic Slip-On and offering modernized comfort with upgraded Ortholite® sockliners, Anaheim Factory Classic Slip-On 98 DX also includes throwback details like the iconic Vans checkerboard print, higher glossed foxing tape, printed sidewalls, and sturdy canvas and textile uppers to complete the look.
Robert Pattinson is The Batman in director Matt Reeves's take on the dark knight. Pattinson is best known from the Twilight series while Reeves was behind the lens on Cloverfield (2008), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).
The Batman's cinematographer is Greig Fraser with a score by Michael Giacchino. Costume design is by Jacqueline Durran, Glyn Dillon, and David Crossman.
Release date: June 25, 2021. Read the rest
I've just watched a trailer for The Iron Mask, a forthcoming Russian/Chinese movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to be playing the chief beefeater at the Tower of London with Jackie Chan as his prisoner. Jason Flemyng, Charles Dance and Rutger Hauer (his final performance!?) are also in it. And now you will watch this trailer also. [via Syfy]
The Iron Mask sees action legends Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger team up in a high concept fantasy historical epic featuring breath-taking fights and stunning visuals. Set in the 18th century, The Iron Mask follows English traveller Jonathan Green as he journeys from Russia to China encountering dragons, black magic wizardry and a dragon king during an incredible but deadly adventure.
The movie was released in 2019 in Russia and China as Viy 2, the sequel to an earlier fantasy adventure also starring Flemyng and Dance. It only got a limited release in the west but they're giving this one the blockbuster rollout thanks to the beefed-up cast. I get the feeling the Flemyng-in-China stuff is the actual movie and the Schwarzenegger-Chan thing is a brief frame story around it. Read the rest
The incredible Julia Garner stars in the upcoming horror movie, The Assistant, which Vanity Fair says, "tracks a day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate working as a junior assistant to a powerful, abusive (and unnamed) movie mogul in Manhattan." Vanity Fair has a brief exclusive clip from the movie. Above, the trailer. Read the rest
The recently departed Kirk Douglas was 75 when he appeared on The Dick Cavett show to promote his autobiography. Douglas told Cavett that his friend John Wayne thought he was a "sissy" for playing Van Gogh in Lust for Life. "Kirk, how can you play this sniveling weakling who commits suicide," Wayne told Douglas after they watched a screening of the movie together. Douglas also told Cavett that Brando ruined many actors who tried to imitate Brando, who was, of course, inimitable. All in all, Douglas comes off as a delightful person in this interview. Now I want to watch Ace in the Hole again.
Image: YouTube Read the rest
Cubicall, makers of contemporary telephone booths like those you might see in the offices of momentarily flush startups, have created an official replica of the time machine phone booth from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). It is $8,495. For that price, perhaps it provides the same functionality as the one in the film. From Cubicall:
The limited-run phone booth features a design inspired by the original film, including an authentic payphone retrofitted for VOIP/landline service, an umbrella antenna, and all of the same stellar features of Cubicall phone booths. Made in USA. Excellent!
I've watched Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood twice, and I appreciated more even the second time. So I enjoyed this "making of" documentary that Sony released to YouTube last week. It has interviews with all the principle actors and Tarantino himself, along with behind-the-scenes footage.
Image: YouTube Read the rest
