Pages

Saturday, January 31, 2015

This 'Furious 7' IMAX Trailer Has Everything You'll Ever Need, From Blood Feuds To Skydiving Cars


Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, can is just go ahead and be April 3 already? Everything that happens between now and when I can finally see Furious 7 (or Fast 7, or The Fast and the Furious 7, or whatever the hell you want to call it because I’ll be there no matter what the title is) is largely inconsequential. And I mean everything. Just to tease me, they released this new IMAX trailer and, well, yeah, I’ll just let you take a look, it speaks for itself.

Friday, January 30, 2015

This 'Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance' Trailer Is The Antichrist And It Needs To Be Stopped


Well this is going to be a fun one. For those of you who have been waiting for this since 1991 for more Samurai Cop, and I know I’m not alone, today is your lucky day, as we bring you the trailer for Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance—this is not just some average, bland, run-of-the-mill vengeance, this time, it’s deadly.

Check Out This Trailer For Sion Sono's 'Shinjuku Swan,' It's As Nuts As You Hoped


Sion Sono is a busy, busy guy. Why Don’t You Play in Hell made the festival rounds last year, Tokyo Tribe premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and he apparently has six, yes, six, movies due out this year. This includes Shinjuku Swan, which just dropped this new trailer that is totally in the wheelhouse of the maverick Japanese director.

'Project Almanac' Movie Review: A Fun And Engaging, If Cliche, Time Travel Flick


Expectations have not been high for Dean Israelite’s feature directorial debut, Project Almanac. The Michael Bay-produced, teen-centric, found footage time travel film, formerly titled Welcome to Yesterday, has been pushed back and delayed multiple times, ultimately dropped at the tail end of January, and beginning late last week there was even rapid scramble to excise a two-second clip from the movie and the promotional material—it featured footage of a real life plane crash, which incensed families of the casualties. The deck is certainly stacked against this one, but despite all of that, as well as being totally predictable, Project Almanac is actually a decent amount of fun.

Our 5 Favorite Teen-Centric Time Travel Movies


The found footage flick Project Almanac, formerly titled Welcome to Yesterday and delayed a number of times, finally hits theaters this weekend, closing out the first month of 2015 with a bit of time travel. (Oddly enough, the month also started with a time travel joint, the Spierig Brothers’ under seen Predestination.) This teen-centric movie about a group of nerdy high school friends who discover that one of their dads made a time machine, got us thinking about our favorite young-folk themed time travel movies. With that in mind, here is a list of our favorite offerings in this realm, there are slackers, robots, and everyone’s favorite DeLorean.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

This 7-Second 'Fast & Furious 7' Clip Is All You Need To Get Stoked



During the Super Bowl, between me pulling my hair out and possibly weeping in public in the middle of the dive bar a block from my house (I’m never as stressed as when I watch a Seahawks game), we’ll be treated to a variety of TV spots for upcoming movies. This weekend has become a kind of annual kick off for the marketing campaigns for the big blockbuster films of the following summer (and summer, at least according to the studios, now starts in March or April and runs through the first week of August). One of the movies that has supposedly purchased a slot of this absurdly expensive air time is James Wan’s The Fast & The Furious 7 (or Fast 7 or Furious 7 or whatever it’s actually called). But I don’t need a full frontal look to get stoked about this movie, all I need is this 7-second clip and I’m completely sold.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Here's Your First Look At Netflix's 'Wet Hot American Summer' Series


Wet Hot American Summer is one of the best things that has ever happened to this world. And I mean ever, throughout the whole of human history, maybe even before. Normally I’m not so amped on years-after-the-fact reboots and the like, but I’m damn pumped up for Netflix’s upcoming eight-episode series, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and this new trailer does nothing to derail my enthusiasm.

Josh Trank's 'Fantastic Four' Finally Has A Trailer, Check It Out Here


To be honest, I’ve never been a big Fantastic Four fan. It’s not that I dislike them, they’ve just never been one of my favorites, and it’s been a comic that I’m rather indifferent to, so I’m less emotionally invested in the adaptations than others. For instance, I care far more that the Daredevil movie sucks so bad rather than that the last two FF movies are terrible. Don’t get me wrong, I do really want Josh Trank’s upcoming version to be good—he’s a filmmaker I’m curious to watch develop, it has a great cast, and I like good superhero movies—but if it isn’t, I won’t lose any sleep over it, and from this first trailer, I’m not so sure I’m sold.

Monday, January 26, 2015

'Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor' Issue #4 Is Full Of Death Cults, Murder, And Mystery


The show may be between seasons at the present time, but Titan Comics is certainly churning out Doctor Who comics like nobody’s business. Now they’re back with the continuing adventures of The Twelfth Doctor, and issue number 4 finds the Doctor and Clara right where we left them, in two drastically different time periods, both dealing with incarnations of the same ancient evil.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

5 Sci-Fi Movies To Check Out At Sundance 2015


2014 was a big year for science fiction. There were massive blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Godzilla that stormed through the box office, but there was also a nice crop of smaller, independent, idea-driven genre films that surfaced. Many of these made the festival rounds, and a handful, movies like TheSignal and I Origins, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The annual gathering has been the marquee American film festival for years, and though it is widely known for a certain free-spirited aesthetic that usually often involves left-of-center interpersonal dramas, there are usually at least a handful of interesting sci-fi pictures in the mix.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

This Trailer For Eli Roth's 'Knock Knock' Puts Keanu Reeves' Marriage, And More, In Jeopardy


Eli Roth and I have a troubled relationship. As much as I appreciate his infectious enthusiasm about horror—just listening to him talk it’s hard not to get excited—I’ve never been a fan of his movies. Cabin Fever didn’t do much for me, and the Hostel movies and their ilk have never been particularly interesting. That said, I’m stoked to see Green Inferno, his take on the cannibals-in-the-Amazon-jungle subgenre—that’s one that doesn’t get much love these days—even though we have no idea when we’ll actually see it. I am, however, very intrigued by his latest, the Keanu Reeves-starring Knock Knock, and now we have this new trailer that only serves to up that anticipation.

This 'White God' Clip Shows The World Go To The Dogs


The closer we get, the more excited I am to see Kornél Mundruczó’s White God. The film walked away with some hardware at Cannes last year, and just screened and Sundance ahead of a March 27 domestic run, and this harrowing new clip shows a world literally gone to the dogs, which is something I can 100% get behind.

Friday, January 23, 2015

'Another World': Check Out The Trailer For This Action-Packed Israeli Zombie Flick


If you’re after a high-octane bit of undead horror, today is your lucky day. Look no farther than this new trailer for Israeli zombie apocalypse film Another World. This is definitely a more action-oriented take on the genre, and looks like a grim, furious good time. There’s even a new poster to boot.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

'A Most Violent Year' Movie Review: A Gangster Saga About Trying Not To Be A Gangster


From the very first frame, J.C. Chandor’s third directorial feature, A Most Violent Year, calls to mind the greatest gangster sagas of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and others. Hell, if you’re going to ape anything, it might as well be the best, and in doing so, Chandor has created a picture that may well stand alongside those movies before long. This is a quintessentially American story about trying to succeed while every exterior force wants to tear you down.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

'Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor' Issue #7 Brings The Eternal Dogfight To Earth


Titan Comic’s Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor has been all over the place quality wise. Every time it takes a step in the right direction, the next issue takes two back, or at least diagonally. In fact, the last issue, the sixth in the run, was literally a story told backwards, from end to beginning, in a gimmick that was just cheap and aggravating—it begins with the death of a key character, only pull an, “Oh, he’s not really dead” move that leaves a bad taste.

Dating Only Leads To Misery In This 'It Follows' Trailer


Horror movies have taught us many lessons over the years, like don’t go to camp, don’t go into the woods or caves, be nice to creepy old Gypsy ladies, if you hear an unexplained noise just leave, and many others. They’ve also taught us that nothing good will come from dating. You’ll probably get kidnapped, you’ll have to deal with an insane stalker, or, in the case of the upcoming It Follows, you’ll catch a sexually transmitted haunting. That’s a new twist, and as we get closer and closer to release, we’ve got another creepy new trailer to check out.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Salma Hayek's Dad Wanted A Boy In This Badass 'Everly' Trailer


Last month, we showed you a trailer for the Selma Hayek-starring, Die Hard-eque actioner Everly, and it was good. The film hits VOD later this week, with a theatrical run starting next month, and in case you weren’t convinced the first time around, the Joe Lynch-directed shoot-em-up is back with another trailer that looks like just as much badass fun as the first.

'Justified' Season 6 Starts Tonight: If You're Not Already Psyched, You're Doing It Wrong


Ahhhh…the new season of Justified starts tonight. Sure, it’ll be bittersweet to see one of the best shows of the last decade kick off its sixth and final season, but you know what trumps that? New episodes of Justified, that’s what. If you haven’t been watching over the last five seasons, and you have even an inkling of affection for badasses onscreen, you’ve been wasting your time.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Werner Herzog Has Some Important Life Advice For You


If more of us lived like Werner Herzog, the world would be a strange place indeed. It also might well be a few shades darker and a bit more magical, though in an unnerving, likely terrifying way. As a director, an artist, and a human being, he’s very much a singular individual, and if you want to emulate the German auteur, in life or in movies, check out his 24 pieces of key advice. I think my favorites are “Carry bolt cutters everywhere” and “Take revenge if need be.”

Thursday, January 15, 2015

'Blackhat' Movie Review: Michael Mann's Cyberthriller Is A Jumbled Misfire


With the massive Sony infiltration at the end of last year, and the subsequent threats of violence at screenings of The Interview, hacking is a big topic of conversation at the moment, one that is at the forefront of the public consciousness. Which makes the release of Michael Mann’s hacker thriller Blackhat seem incredibly fortuitous, as the action follows a team of Chinese and American agents as they track a mysterious cyber outlaw with destructive tendencies across the globe. Unfortunately for audiences, the movie is a dull, drab affair that, while occasionally slick, with a few moments of nice tension, carries little more than that to recommend it.

This 'R100' Clip Teaches You Not To Take Your Dominatrix Out For Coffee


I think the title of this clip from R100 says it all: “Never take a dominatrix out for coffee.” That’s a lesson the man in this clip from Hitoshi Matsumoto’s latest learns the hard way. We won’t spoil it for you, but when you sign up for a year-long dominatrix service that you can’t cancel, one that specializes in humiliating you in very public fashion, you should probably know what you’re getting yourself into. This is definitely one that you need to check out.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Here Are The Winners Of The 2015 Seattle Film Awards


Awards season is in full swing. Critics and guilds and groups have been dropping best-of lists for the last month, the Golden Globes were given out last weekend, other trophies are being doled out, and the Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow. Not to be left out, a bunch of Seattle-based movie critics, of which I am one, put our heads together, voted, and named our best films, performances, and whatnot of 2014.

Watch Colin Firth Dismantle An Entire Bar In This 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' Clip


Early on, if you had told me I’d be getting really excited for Kingsman: The Secret Service, I would have chuckled and given you a good-natured, “Sure.” It just didn’t look particularly good. But here we are, less than a month out, and the more I see, the more pumped I am. Not only does it look like a total blast, it’s getting startlingly good reviews, even from outlets that normally hate this kind of movie, and you have to appreciate any movie where just a normal looking dude is a total badass. In this new clip, you get to watch Colin Firth, the most calm, low-key British man imaginable, dismantle an entire bar full of goons, and that’s a good time. And he’s got tons of fantastic spy gizmos.

Monday, January 12, 2015

'Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor' Issue #6 Goes Dark And Grim


Of the three continuing Doctor Who titles Titan Comics currently has running, The Tenth Doctor has easily been the best of the bunch. The latest, Issue #6, ushers in significant changes, however. Not only does it kick off a whole new story arc, it brings an entirely different creative team to the table. Writer Robbie Morrison and artist Daniel Indro replace Nick Abadzis and his cohorts, and put their own stamp on David Tennant’s Time Lord. While there is definitely a different mood and tone going on here, they’re still playing the long game, letting the narrative arc unfold and the characters develop over multiple installments, and Issue #6 reads like what it is, the first chapter in a larger story.

Friday, January 9, 2015

'Run All Night' Sounds Generic But This Trailer Is Awesome


Liam Neeson. Ed Harris. Revenge. Stern man talking. Seriously, I don’t need anything else to get me to see a movie, but this new trailer for Run All Night is right up my alley. There are tough dudes saying tough things, Vincent D’Onofrio as a harried cop, a nameless thug getting choked out on a skeevy bathroom floor, and one long night that never seems to end and changes everything. Sign me up.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

'Selma' Leaves You Shaken And Moved


Few historical dramas, no matter their aim, actually make you look at a public figure in a whole new light, change the way you view someone, or alter your perspective, but that’s precisely what Ava DuVernay’s Selma accomplishes. Martin Luther King Jr. is an icon, there’s no other way to put it. He’s this image you see on murals and in text books, whose speeches you study, but especially this far removed from his life, he hardly seems real, more myth than man. What DuVernay, working from a script by Paul Webb, and lead actor David Oyelowo achieve is to paint him as a man, a human, with all the flaws and failings inherent in all of us, and he becomes that much more powerful and moving because of this.

'Inherent Vice' Movie Review: One Hell Of A Trip, Even If You're Not Sure Why


Paul Thomas Anderson is one of America’s great living auteur filmmakers, and at this point in his career, with films like Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, and The Master under his belt, he can, and will, do whatever the hell he wants. In the case of his latest, Inherent Vice, that’s a double-edged sword. Sprawling and strange and often entertaining as hell, there are times you wish someone could have reined things in.

'Predestination' Movie Review: An Unusual, Unexpected Time Travel Thriller


Both audiences and studios often look at January as a time of the year that’s a desolate wasteland full of terrible movies, and it certainly is that to a degree. While the last of the awards hopefuls open wide, there are going to be a ton of bad movies released over the next few weeks (The Wedding Ringer anyone?). But the first month of the year can also be a place where movies get dumped because no one can figure out how the hell to market them, and in 2015, one title that falls into this category is the latest from the Australian duo Michael and Peter Spierig (Daybreakers), the time travel thriller Predestination.

Ryan Reynold's Pets Order Him To Kill In This 'The Voices' Trailer


I get talking to your pets. I talk to mine more than to other people, way more. As a future hermit who is eventually going to die and be eaten by my animal friends before my neighbors complain about the stench, this trailer for Ryan Reynolds' dark indie comedy The Voices truly speaks to me, as it were.

5 Under-The-Radar Time Travel Movies To Watch After 'Predestination'


The Spierig Brothers’ time travel thriller Predestination hits theaters at the end of this week (we’ll have a full review to accompany the release). While we hope many of you go see it, as it’s totally worth a few hours of your life, we think that a lot of people may sit this one out. After all, January can be a rough month at the theater, quality wise. Though the film is being marketed as a time-hopping crime story in the vein of Minority Report and TimeCop, that’s not what you’re going to see. Deliberately paced, continually shifting perspectives, and inherently weird, Predestination feels like a movie that the distributor has no idea how to sell, and as a result we’re afraid that this will fall into a category of films that, while excellent, are totally underappreciated. And in that spirit, we’d like to take the opportunity to explore some of our favorite under-the-radar time travel movies.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

This 'Ant-Man' Trailer Asks If It's Too Late To Change The Name


After that “ant-sized” tease, followed shortly by a “human-sized” version of the same video that you could actually see, the trailer for Marvel’s next standalone superhero movie, Ant-Man, is finally here. Check it out for yourself below.

2014's Best Sci-Fi Movies



Ticket sales at the box office may have been at a 20-year low in 2014, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything worth seeing. I’m a firm believer that, no matter the state of the industry, there will always be people making exciting, interesting films, you just might have to look for them. Regardless of what this means for studios and their bottom lines, sci-fi fans had a lot to dig into over the past year. There were huge, spectacle style blockbusters right along side quiet, introspective independent features more concerned with ideas than eye candy, as well as everything in between. There are a few gaps in my genre viewing for the year—I still have yet to watch titles like Young Ones, The Zero Theorem, and Under the Skin for some reason—but in this spirit, here are my top ten (actually eleven) sci-fi movies of 2014.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

2014's Best Sci-Fi TV


2014 may be in the rearview, but all around it was a damn good year for science fiction. We got fantastic movies big and small, new and interesting additions to the literary side of the genre, and we’ve even got three, soon to be four, Doctor Who comic books. There was also a ton of great stuff to watch from the comfort of our very own couch and tune into week after week on ye olde boob tube. There are some definite gaps in my viewing for the year, but here are some of my favorite sci-fi shows of the past 12 months. In retrospect, this is actually kind of a sad list, as multiple entries have already been cancelled or are definitively on their way out.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Here Are The 2015 Seattle Film Award Nominations


I live in Seattle, and recently the film critics in town got together and voted for our favorite movies of the year. The Seattle Film Awards nominations came out today, and here they are. I voted for some of these, I didn’t vote for some of these, and my favorite movie of the year is nowhere to be found on this list (check out my Top Ten Movies of 2014). A second round of voting begins today and the winners will be announced on January 14, 2015. Here’s the full list:

Samuel L. Jackson And A Badass Pre-Teen Battle Terrorists In This 'Big Game' Trailer


Samuel L. Jackson as the President of the United States, a badass little Finnish kid with a bow and arrow, and terrorists hunting them both through the dense Scandinavian forest. That’s what you get in this new trailer for Big Game, and it looks super awesome, like a cross between The Hunger Games and The Most Dangerous Game, with just a touch of Escape From New York thrown in for the hell of it. Only instead of Snake Plissken you get a grizzled pre-teen on a quest to become a man.