End of the world movies don't always have to have big budgets and enormous special effects (e.g., Armageddon and much of Roland Emmerich's career). Don't get me wrong, these movies can still be fun, but more often than not, their stories are pretty stupid and the characters paper thin.
Writer/director Abel Ferrara (Driller Killer, Ms. 45, Crime Story (tv series) and The Bad Lieutenant -- wow, how's that for an eclectic and eccentric resume!) has a new film coming out called 4:44 - Last Day On Earth (trailer at collider.com). There's no rocketship/space ark being built, no time machine to escape to the past. Nope. none of that. In the story set during the final night on earth, we know the world's going to end at 4:44 am the next day; we follow Willem Dafoe, his girlfriend and a handful of other people as the curtain comes down on our human existence.
While the story sounds similar to Last Night, a 1998 end of the world movie from writer/director Don McKellar, Ferrara is a different kind of animal, so I can't wait to see what he does with this tale.
Sci-Fi and Fantasy from A (Artoo-Detoo) to Z (Zardoz)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Stalking The Night On The Big Screen
If you're like me, when you hear the name "Kolchak" you get shivers running up and down your spine. (Just listen to the opening theme!)
Kolchak, aka "The Night Stalker", was an investigative reporter in a rumpled suit and a pork pie hat with a nose for the supernatural. He first appeared in a pair of successful TV movies, which paved the way for a hasty first and only season. "The X-Files" TV show creator Chris Carter has long acknowledged the creepy and creative "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" as a major inspiration for his own creepy and creative series.
Last year it was reported Johnny Depp wanted to play Kolchak in a feature film. Now, according to slashfilm.com that movie appears to finally have a director: Shaun of the Dead's own Edgar Wright.
Darren McGavin - who was in his early 50s at the time - created one of the most memorable TV characters in his portrayal of the harried, put upon, and often-fired, Kolchak. I wonder what sort of take Depp has on the role -- will he do a sort of Darren McGavin "impression" or just go off in his own direction?
Whatever Wright and Depp do, they gotta keep the pork pie hat.
Kolchak, aka "The Night Stalker", was an investigative reporter in a rumpled suit and a pork pie hat with a nose for the supernatural. He first appeared in a pair of successful TV movies, which paved the way for a hasty first and only season. "The X-Files" TV show creator Chris Carter has long acknowledged the creepy and creative "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" as a major inspiration for his own creepy and creative series.
Last year it was reported Johnny Depp wanted to play Kolchak in a feature film. Now, according to slashfilm.com that movie appears to finally have a director: Shaun of the Dead's own Edgar Wright.
Darren McGavin - who was in his early 50s at the time - created one of the most memorable TV characters in his portrayal of the harried, put upon, and often-fired, Kolchak. I wonder what sort of take Depp has on the role -- will he do a sort of Darren McGavin "impression" or just go off in his own direction?
Whatever Wright and Depp do, they gotta keep the pork pie hat.
The Walking CGI Dead
The Walking Dead on AMC is my favorite show on TV right now. This zombie-packed series has me on the edge of my seat each week.
The special make-up effects created and supervised by Greg Nicotero are first rate, but as this clip found on Topless Robot shows, there are a lot of amazing digital effects involving the "walkers" of which we viewers are not aware.
Just makes me love this series even more.
The special make-up effects created and supervised by Greg Nicotero are first rate, but as this clip found on Topless Robot shows, there are a lot of amazing digital effects involving the "walkers" of which we viewers are not aware.
Just makes me love this series even more.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Bat-Questions
What happens when a dude dressed as Batman prowls the streets of Toronto and growls out in his best Christian Bale-like rasp, "WHERE ARE THEY?!"
Why vigilante-fueled hilarity, of course!
from io9.com.
Why vigilante-fueled hilarity, of course!
from io9.com.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Another Spin
Even though I still think the new costume design sucks donkey balls, this brand new second trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man actually got my attention.
I may wanna see this in theaters after all.
I may wanna see this in theaters after all.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Little Bloodthirsty (Sorta Blind) Bounty Hunter That Could
Remember when Pitch Black was just this cool little (only a $23 mil budget!) cult scifi movie that came outta nowhere and basically made gym bunny Vin Diesel a star?
It was a fun, tension-filled, visually imaginative action story. Writer/director David Twohy overreached a bit with the sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, which, in a strange way, is right up there with Highlander II for throwing together a massive story that really didn't have anything to do with the first film. I mean they changed EVERYTHING in Highlander II, while Riddick was still a convicted murderer/fugitive in C of R.
Anywho, after yarons of speculation, Twohy and Diesel have reunited for another adventure involving the man with the shiny eyes, Richard B. Riddick.
According to a post on Aint It Cool News, Diesel has uploaded several pics of the untitled sequel to his Facebook page. Check 'em out.
Riddick returns to the big screen some time in 2013.
It was a fun, tension-filled, visually imaginative action story. Writer/director David Twohy overreached a bit with the sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, which, in a strange way, is right up there with Highlander II for throwing together a massive story that really didn't have anything to do with the first film. I mean they changed EVERYTHING in Highlander II, while Riddick was still a convicted murderer/fugitive in C of R.
Anywho, after yarons of speculation, Twohy and Diesel have reunited for another adventure involving the man with the shiny eyes, Richard B. Riddick.
According to a post on Aint It Cool News, Diesel has uploaded several pics of the untitled sequel to his Facebook page. Check 'em out.
Riddick returns to the big screen some time in 2013.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Odds n Ends for the Odd Wednesday
From the Popcandy blog, these two bits caught our optics:
Asian Cinema's 20 Greatest Fight Scenes. You can bet the hallway fight from OldBoy is in there.
And since we're a fan of comic strip art, this article about an extremely rare piece of Calvin and Hobbes artwork going up for sale made us all misty-eyed and nostalgic for that tuna-loving tiger and his boy.
Asian Cinema's 20 Greatest Fight Scenes. You can bet the hallway fight from OldBoy is in there.
And since we're a fan of comic strip art, this article about an extremely rare piece of Calvin and Hobbes artwork going up for sale made us all misty-eyed and nostalgic for that tuna-loving tiger and his boy.
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