There are some movies that are the sum of their parts which require repeat viewings entirely. And then there are some movies that only have one scene that demand repeat viewings. Sometimes even bad movies can possess one scene that makes the venture almost worthwhile. Emphasis on sometimes.
My selection for the Scene To Be Seen today comes from Wes Craven’s 1986 horror-teen-romance The Deadly Friend – a cheerfully gory film that goes like this: Paul is a brilliant, scientific young man (Matthew Laborteaux, Little House on the Prairie) who resurrects his murdered would-be girlfriend Samantha (Kristie Swanson, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) using advanced nanorobotics. Unfortunately, his corpse-crush goes haywire and targets the nasty old wench (Anne Ramsey, Throw Momma From the Train) who lives across the street.
How malicious is this hag? She makes Mrs. Deagle look like Mrs. Claus. First she snatches a basketball away from our hero because it was on her property. And then (get this!) she opens fire using a double-barrel rifle on BB, Paul’s ultra-cool, talking robot he spent years constructing. And the robot was voiced by Charles “Roger Rabbit” Fleischer! Double-bitch!
Now put on your raincoat and watch the freaky comeuppance Samantha the Zombie Queen delivers to the evil crone! You’ll never think of shooting hoops the same way again.
If my brief synopsis piques your interest, I’d recommend a rental. It’s no Re-Animator (1985) but you could do a hell of a lot worse. Director Wes Craven was disappointed though; he had intended to make a H.P. Lovecraft inspired romance but the studio made him cut back on the love and shoot more gore. Pity. This explains the weird hell-with-the-story-for-the-sake-of-a-BOO! ending in the morgue.
Sir Ian McKellen told Empire Online recently that he was indeed coming back for The Hobbit and The Hobbit Sequel.
McKellen stated, “Yes, it’s true. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf. We talk occasionally and he’s looking forward to coming out of retirement, yes. Guillermo will be getting around to starting the script in about six weeks when he’s finished (editing) Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”
About The Hobbit Sequel, Ian said, “Well I’ve read The Hobbit so I’ve got a good idea of what the story would be. But as to how it’s going to work over two films and what is going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet - I can tell you it’s going to be amazing though.”
The second trailer from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has somehow founds it’s way online. And by the looks of it, this could wind up being the best yet. Indy 4 hits theaters on May 22.
More viral marketing for The Dark Knight has been found at Clowntravelagency.com to further escalate your anticipation. Having entered the site, you’re just a few clicks away from filling out your name and phone number. Once you submit this information, be on guard for a phone call. If you dare answer it, say the given password “needle”. On the other end, you will hear Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon interrogate you as a found member of the Joker’s gang.
Yesterday, Ratatouille composer Michael Giacchino’s eight-minute musical ode to 50s era Godzilla movies Roar has been made available on iTunes (only the US version). Followed by a strong cult following, the demand was high for the only piece of an instrumental soundtrack to play over the end credit sequence of J.J. Abrams’ produced Cloverfield.
Negotiations to release the composer’s cut of the score extended by five minutes on iTunes were met. Giacchino has said, “…there (were) a bunch of legal knots that need(ed) to be tied…”
Listening to the score again, I was reminded of Danny Elfman’s turbulently operatic score for “Mars Attacks” (1996).
Son of Rambow is a story of a young British kid who wants to make his own shot-by-shot version of Rambo:First Blood.
This movie won over the crowds at Sundance and was picked up by Paramount’s Independant label. It’s cited to be this years Little Miss Sunshine, or even a more jazzed up Billy Elliot. The film is seen by the critics to have a haze of nostalgia surrounding it and the performances of the two leads are incredible.
We’re seeing a lot of these kid-inspired movies coming out lately, where the kids are different but always seem to make the world a better place, or at least their world a better place. Another movie reminiscent of this which came out last year was This is England. I guess these type of movies have their place in modern cinema, but how far will we go before the story becomes too run-down to be screened or picked up by Independant Labels?
Liv Tyler had a few scenes from her upcoming Horror movie, The Strangers, cut when the scenes were seen as being a bit too realistic and some people thought that it was a snuff film.
Liv has said: “It’s a really eccentric, dark little movie. I think they actually wound up cutting a little because it was too realistic — people thought it was a snuff film or something.” The movie is being directed by first-timer Bryan Bertino, who also wrote the script. Liv stars amongst Gemma Ward, Scott Speedman and Kip Weeks in a story about a couple who get terrorized when they take a break to a remote holiday home.
I have to admit the story-line seems very similar to the French film “Them”. The Strangers is due for release on May 30th. Let’s hope it’s a screamer. Too many horror flicks these days are regurgitated nonsense.
Back to Liv Tyler, recently she’s said that she wants to make less films so that she can spend more time with her family. “It’s good for me to take a break. I love staying at home and cooking and doing fun things with my son.”
Liv also stars opposite Edward Norton in the upcoming summer blockbuster “The Incredible Hulk.”
The Golden Compass arrived on DVD this week. I don’t care what anyone says, I liked this movie. I heard a lot of smack being talked about it around the time of it’s release. Everyone was making a big deal about it’s $180 million dollar budget and how it was going to bomb and ruin the filmmakers. There was a lot of talk as well about some supposed controversy surrounding the original novels that the story is based on and how that was going to sink the movie. Well I say nonsense. The movie was good and in my opinion it was a lot better than Narnia, which everyone seems to get all nuts about. Continue reading →
Son of Rambow is a story of a young British kid who wants to make his own shot-by-shot version of Rambo:First Blood.
The Golden Compass arrived on DVD this week. I don’t care what anyone says, I liked this movie. I heard a lot of smack being talked about it around the time of it’s release. Everyone was making a big deal about it’s $180 million dollar budget and how it was going to bomb and ruin the filmmakers. There was a lot of talk as well about some supposed controversy surrounding the original novels that the story is based on and how that was going to sink the movie. Well I say nonsense. The movie was good and in my opinion it was a lot better than Narnia, which everyone seems to get all nuts about.