Tuesday, April 30, 2019

'I'll Take Your Dead' (2018) Movie Review

ava preston

I’ll Take Your Dead starts with a young girl’s ominous voiceover about seeing dead people and the nature of death, straight into a corpse being dismembered, dissolved in a bathtub, and disposed of. This immediately sets the mood for writer/director Chad Archibald’s dark synthesis of gritty underworld crime saga and supernatural ghost horror. 

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

'Avengers: Endgame' (2019) Movie Review

captain america grimacing

With Avengers: Endgame, Marvel manages to both take their expansive, episodic superhero saga in a direction I did not see coming, but also plays it out in entirely predictable, familiar fashion. At three hours, this movie is a lot, and it falls into some of the typical MCU pitfalls, but overall, it’s a blast, serves as an end point but also a beginning, and will more than satisfy fans who have devoted ten plus years and 20 plus chapters to these tales. At this point, Marvel knows their fans and what they want, and there’s going to be plenty of tears and cheers in the audience.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

'Gemini Man' Trailer: Watch Will Smith Fight Himself In Ang Lee's Sci-Fi Opus

will smith with a rifle and a shocked expression

Always wanted to watch Will Smith fight a younger version of himself? If so, today’s your lucky day, because there’s definitely some of that on display in the first trailer for Ang Lee’s long-in-the-works sci-fi assassin tale, Gemini Man. Check it out below for some digitally altered Smith-on-Smith action.

Friday, April 19, 2019

UPDATED: 'The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil' Trailer: Check Out The Cannes-Bound South Korean Thriller

evil man standing in the rain

UPDATE: There's another new version of the trailer for The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil. It's slightly longer and still in Korean, but it comes complete with the Cannes logo, so...cool.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

'Bliss' Trailer: Gore, Sleaze, Vampires, And Painting

a woman covered in blood

Well, hello there, Bliss, nice to meet you. Indie horror director Joe Begos (Almost Human, The Mind’s Eye) is back with a nasty, mean-mugging, gore-soaked take on a vampire story. And as the kids say (or, more likely, don’t anymore), this looks very much like my shit. Check out the trailer below. It feels like something you’d encounter as the back half of a double feature at a movie theater where you’re a little bit afraid you might get stabbed.

'Hobbs & Shaw' Trailer: 'Fast & Furious' Finally Becomes The Superhero Mad Max Movie We've Always Wanted


From humble beginnings as a Point Break knock off with cars instead of surfing, the Fast and Furious franchise has become the reigning, billion-dollar-earning, cineplex-packing action heavyweight on the block. Now they’re spinning off from the main saga with Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, following Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Shaw (#JusticeForHan). A new trailer is here and…it’s just insane.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

'Hagazussa' (2019) Movie Review


Austrian writer/director Lukas Feigelfeld’s Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse is a kind of horror that has a very specific audience. Deliberate, measured, and methodical, it’s slow-burn pace is not for everyone, but those who love it, will find much to cling to. And fortunately for me, I definitely fall into that category.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

AGFA And Shout! Factory Team Up To Bring 50 Cult Classics Back To Theaters


Well hot damn, this is like Christmas morning! The fine folks at the American Genre Film Archive and Shout! Factory have teamed up to bring 50, count ‘em 50, cult classics back to the big screen this year. 

Monday, April 15, 2019

BoneBat Comedy Of Horrors Film Festival 9: Zombies, Vampires, Metal Girls, And Murder Squirrels

demons eating popcorn

Sure, it’s spring, but the Seattle weather edged towards the crappy side. So there weren’t any pangs of guilt about lawns left un-mowed or yard work left un-yard worked this past Saturday. And that’s good, because I wasn’t going to do that shit anyway. Nope. Instead, I hunkered down all day, and part of the night, in a dark movie theater with a few hundred like-minded weirdo horror enthusiasts for the ninth—I can’t believe it’s nine—BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival.

Friday, April 12, 2019

'Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker' Trailer: The Saga Comes To An End


Anything happening today? No? Nothing much? Oh, yeah, the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode IX, THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING! It’s also called Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker apparently. There’s some stuff to chew on in this, that’s for sure. But for now, roll it!

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Pedring Lopez' Action Movie 'Maria' Acquired By Netflix

the same woman with many faces

I don’t generally make it a practice of noting every time Netflix acquires one random movie or another. They’re so busy snapping up films I would never sleep. But I’ll make an exception in this case, as this is a movie I’ve been dying to see. Netflix just acquired the rights to Filipino director Pedring Lopez’ action movie Maria, and it drops on the divisive service May 17.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

'Master Z: Ip Man Legacy' (2018) Movie Review

male and female martial artists fighting

This will surprise absolutely no one, but Yuen Woo-ping can stage the hell out of a fight. The guy is a legend for good reason. And he displays this particular skill front and center in his latest directorial effort Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, which features choreography on par with some of his best. Inventive and thrilling, it runs the gamut from incredibly technical martial arts skill to high-flying artistry that calls to mind his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Monday, April 8, 2019

Watch The First Trailer For Bong Joon-Ho's 'Parasite'

woman cries in the rain

UPDATED: Now there's a new poster, too!

ORIGINAL POST: Over the course of his career, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho has rarely made two movies that are even remotely the same. He’s done black comedy (Barking Dogs Never Bite), crime thrillers (Mother, Memories of Murder), and a post-apocalyptic actioner (Snowpiercer). Even his two creature features, The Host and Okja, couldn’t be more different in tone, style, and aesthetics. Now he’s back with another new film that looks nothing like anything he’s ever done. Check out the first trailer for Parasite.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

'Pet Sematary' (2019) Movie Review

grumpy undead cat

Stephen King has been going through an epic cinematic renaissance lately. We’ve seen a glut of fantastic, interesting big and small screen takes on the horror master’s work—and maybe one not so great attempt, sorry Dark Tower fans. The latest endeavor is a reworking of his 1983 novel Pet Sematary from directors Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch, the duo behind indie horror hit Starry Eyes. And it’s…fine.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

'Shazam!' (2019) Movie Review

superhero in a convenience store

Shazam! aims to say something about staying true to yourself, finding family where you can, and that you don’t need superpowers to be a hero and do extraordinary things, all wrapped in superhero origin story trappings. Those aims are all well and good, but the finished product is so saccharine and hollow, the emotion so manufactured and false, and the goofiness wears so thin so fast, it becomes insufferable and leaves a lingering bad taste.

The First 'Joker' Trailer Puts On A Happy Face

joaquin phoenix in clown makeup

The old adage goes, there’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy, that the difference is a matter of perspective. And from what we see in the first trailer for Todd PhillipsJoaquin Phoenix-starring Joker, that appears to be the underlying conceit for the origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime. The first trailer dropped this morning, and this certainly doesn’t feel like your typical comic book movie. Watch it below.

Monday, April 1, 2019

James Franco's Long-Lost 'Zeroville' Adaptation Finally Gets A Release


Fun fact, the very first cease and desist order I ever received was for sharing a trailer to James Franco’s Zeroville a few years ago. The film premiered in 2015 at the Toronto International Film Festival but has been lost in distribution hell ever since thanks to financial troubles. But it’s finally going to see the light of day later this year. Unless something else goes wrong. Which, given the film’s track record, it probably will.

'The Dead Don't Die' Trailer: Jim Jarmusch Made A Zombie Movie With An Insane Cast

Danny Glover, Bill Murray, and Adam Driver as sheriffs.

When you think of Jim Jarmusch, you probably think minimalist indie dramas with a brooding tone and undercurrent of strangeness that focus on unusual, off-kilter characters. Horror might not be the first thing that springs to mind. The director took a stab at vampires with Only Lovers Left Alive, which is great, and he’s returning to horror with the upcoming zombie film The Dead Don’t Die. And I’m here for it. Check out the first trailer below.

The Final 'Pet Sematary' Trailer Comes With A Price

angry undead cat

“Sometimes dead is better.” And sometimes trailers appear to give away a lot, which has been the case with Pet Sematary. Then again, I haven’t seen the movie, but the trailers, including this new, final trailer, appear to reveal some things. But what the hell. I’m all kinds of jazzed about this regardless, though I’m pretty indifferent to spoilers and such. Maybe tread lightly. Or maybe that's what they mean when they say there's a price to be paid.