...ya' know?? One really has to hand it off to cult film director Antonio Margheriti (...or, Anthony Dawson, per his domestically coined moniker), for his ever-changing versatility and his ability to smartly adapt to many film genres, adding his unique style to whatever genre he takes on, without necessarily procuring a sense of 'copycat' or 'knock-off', in whatever 'flavor-of-the-moment' genre, which happens to be 'big', at that particular time and place. Whether it's spaghetti westerns (...1968's "Vengeance", 1967's "Dynamite Joe", etc.) ...swords, sandals & sorcery (...1964's "Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules", 1983's "Yor, the Hunter from the Future", etc.) ...spy thrillers (...1966's "Lightning Bolt" and "Killers are Challenged", etc.) ...edge-of-seat giallos (...1968's "Naked, You Die", 1973's "Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye", etc.) ...'Raiders'-like high adventure (...1982's "Hunters of the Golden Cobra", 1984's "Ark of the Sun God", etc.) ...mixed genres (...the 1975 blaxploitation western, "Take a Hard Ride"...the 1974 martial arts western, "The Stranger and the Gunfighter", 1973's "Hercules Against Karate", etc.) ...war flicks (...1980's "Hunter of the Apocalypse", 1983's "The Last Blood", etc.) ...cannibals, aliens, sharks & shockumentaries (...1980's "Invasion of the Flesh Hunters", 1989's "Alien from the Deep", 1979's "Killer Fish", 1964's "Mondo Inferno", etc.) ...and horror, of course (...1963's "The Virgin of Nuremberg", 1964's "The Long Hair of Death", and this viewer's favorite of Antonio's, the 1963 gothic horror/romance, "Castle of Blood", amongst others). Indeed, if Antonio is guilty of anything, it's the odd occasion where he quite literally 'rips' himself off (...for instance, with 1971's color remake of "Castle of Blood", called "Web of the Spider"). However, for the purpose of this review's study, it's Antonio's contribution to the genre of science fiction, which stands out as prominently as the other genres, which he has tackled...the films of which are as numerous and varied, including 1966's "War of the Planets", 1960's "Assignment: Outer Space", and an intelligent, tension-filled little sci-fi gem from 1961...offered to us, from the fine folks over at Cheezy Flicks...called "Battle of the Worlds"...Search the Cinema Head Cheese Archives!
August 31, 2013
Movie Review: Battle of the Worlds (1961, Ultra Films/Cheezy Flicks)
...ya' know?? One really has to hand it off to cult film director Antonio Margheriti (...or, Anthony Dawson, per his domestically coined moniker), for his ever-changing versatility and his ability to smartly adapt to many film genres, adding his unique style to whatever genre he takes on, without necessarily procuring a sense of 'copycat' or 'knock-off', in whatever 'flavor-of-the-moment' genre, which happens to be 'big', at that particular time and place. Whether it's spaghetti westerns (...1968's "Vengeance", 1967's "Dynamite Joe", etc.) ...swords, sandals & sorcery (...1964's "Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules", 1983's "Yor, the Hunter from the Future", etc.) ...spy thrillers (...1966's "Lightning Bolt" and "Killers are Challenged", etc.) ...edge-of-seat giallos (...1968's "Naked, You Die", 1973's "Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye", etc.) ...'Raiders'-like high adventure (...1982's "Hunters of the Golden Cobra", 1984's "Ark of the Sun God", etc.) ...mixed genres (...the 1975 blaxploitation western, "Take a Hard Ride"...the 1974 martial arts western, "The Stranger and the Gunfighter", 1973's "Hercules Against Karate", etc.) ...war flicks (...1980's "Hunter of the Apocalypse", 1983's "The Last Blood", etc.) ...cannibals, aliens, sharks & shockumentaries (...1980's "Invasion of the Flesh Hunters", 1989's "Alien from the Deep", 1979's "Killer Fish", 1964's "Mondo Inferno", etc.) ...and horror, of course (...1963's "The Virgin of Nuremberg", 1964's "The Long Hair of Death", and this viewer's favorite of Antonio's, the 1963 gothic horror/romance, "Castle of Blood", amongst others). Indeed, if Antonio is guilty of anything, it's the odd occasion where he quite literally 'rips' himself off (...for instance, with 1971's color remake of "Castle of Blood", called "Web of the Spider"). However, for the purpose of this review's study, it's Antonio's contribution to the genre of science fiction, which stands out as prominently as the other genres, which he has tackled...the films of which are as numerous and varied, including 1966's "War of the Planets", 1960's "Assignment: Outer Space", and an intelligent, tension-filled little sci-fi gem from 1961...offered to us, from the fine folks over at Cheezy Flicks...called "Battle of the Worlds"...Movie Review: Grand Duel (1972, DVD)
Review By: Rob Sibley
How does this sound? Directed by Giancarlo Santi who was Sergio Leone's second unit director on Good, The Bad & The Ugly and Once upon a time in the west. Written by one of the most talented and prolific Italian writers Ernesto Gastaldi. Who brought us many wrote many fine Westerns such as Day of Anger and My Name is Nobody. What might interest you is Gastaldi was more well known for writing Giallo's.
Such classics as Torso, The Case Of The Scorpions Tail, All the colors of the dark and The Case of the Bloody Iris to name a few. He also wrote the hard boiled crime classic "Kidnap Syndicate" for Fernando Di Leo. Then add in the always impressive Lee Van Cleef and you have one of the best and maybe one of the most single handily underrated spaghetti Westerns of all time! Even Quentin Tarantino used Luis Enríquez Bacalov theme for the film very effectively in Kill Bill Vol 1.
How does this sound? Directed by Giancarlo Santi who was Sergio Leone's second unit director on Good, The Bad & The Ugly and Once upon a time in the west. Written by one of the most talented and prolific Italian writers Ernesto Gastaldi. Who brought us many wrote many fine Westerns such as Day of Anger and My Name is Nobody. What might interest you is Gastaldi was more well known for writing Giallo's.
Such classics as Torso, The Case Of The Scorpions Tail, All the colors of the dark and The Case of the Bloody Iris to name a few. He also wrote the hard boiled crime classic "Kidnap Syndicate" for Fernando Di Leo. Then add in the always impressive Lee Van Cleef and you have one of the best and maybe one of the most single handily underrated spaghetti Westerns of all time! Even Quentin Tarantino used Luis Enríquez Bacalov theme for the film very effectively in Kill Bill Vol 1.
EXTENDED DIRECTOR’S CUT OF CLIVER BARKER’S “NIGHTBREED” SCHEDULED TO BE RELEASED IN 2014 FROM SCREAM FACTORY!!
Los Angeles, CA August 19, 2013 — Shout! Factory and Morgan Creek Productions officially announced today a strategic distribution alliance to bring Clive Barker’s classic horror film “Nightbreed” extended director’s cut to the home entertainment marketplace in the U.S and Canada and on digital entertainment platforms next year. The announcement was made by Shout! Factory’s founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos along with David Robinson, President of Morgan Creek Productions. The news initially broke at Comic-Con 2013, however the agreement formally reached by both parties occurred today.For years rumors swirled about substantial missing footage from the film. A fan-driven movement was created (www.OccupyMidian.com) to see the full version of the film restored and re-released, which was not only a more faithful adaptation of Clive Barker’s book “Cabal,” but is what originally he intended “Nightbreed” to be.
Movie Review: John Dies at the End (2012)
by John Beutler
There have been a good number of 'fan-fav' cult genre film directors, who regrettably have seemed to have lost a good measure of their 'mojo' over the years, and have turned out some pretty lackluster, albeit mildly entertaining productions in their later years, as compared to their peaked and reveled heyday (...regrettably, George A. Romero and Dario Argento, for instance...just to name a couple). On the opposite side of this eclectic coin, there have been similarly embraced cult film directors, who have genuinely stood the test of time, endured through the years, and like a fine wine, have actually gotten 'better' (...read: comparatively and delightfully more weirder, more bizarre and more twisted, then they have, in their initial onset). Producer/director Frank Henenlotter would definitely be one of the prime examples, in this case (...those who have merely seen his "Basket Case". "Brain Damage" or "Frankenhooker" have seen nothing, until having partaken of his latest, from a couple years ago...an over-the-top, nasty little ditty, called "Bad Biology"...Definitely look THAT one up!!). However, ol' Frank's varied and eclectic filmography will have to be a tale told at a later time.
Labels:
cult,
Don Coscarelli,
John Beutler,
John Dies at the End,
Magnet,
phantasm
Movie Review: Madhouse (1974)
Director: Jim Clark
Stars: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry
Given that last Friday would have been Vincent Price's one hundredth birthday, a Vincentennial as it were, I felt it appropriate to celebrate his life and career by watching a Price picture that I hadn't seen before. It took some searching but I located this one, a co-production between Amicus in the UK and AIP in the States. It's far from his best film but it has much to offer, not least the trio of legends in leading roles: Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry. A couple more back them up, as Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff make surprise guest appearances, given that they'd both been dead for years: Rathbone died in 1967 and Karloff in 1969. They appear through the magic of cinema, rather like Bela Lugosi did in Plan 9 from Outer Space, but at least Ed Wood used new footage to the screen, Rathbone and Karloff reappear in clips from older AIP films. Five of those are reused here, a quick fact that helps to underline how recycled much of Madhouse is.
Buy Theater Of Blood/MadHouse (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
on DVD
Stars: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry
Given that last Friday would have been Vincent Price's one hundredth birthday, a Vincentennial as it were, I felt it appropriate to celebrate his life and career by watching a Price picture that I hadn't seen before. It took some searching but I located this one, a co-production between Amicus in the UK and AIP in the States. It's far from his best film but it has much to offer, not least the trio of legends in leading roles: Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry. A couple more back them up, as Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff make surprise guest appearances, given that they'd both been dead for years: Rathbone died in 1967 and Karloff in 1969. They appear through the magic of cinema, rather like Bela Lugosi did in Plan 9 from Outer Space, but at least Ed Wood used new footage to the screen, Rathbone and Karloff reappear in clips from older AIP films. Five of those are reused here, a quick fact that helps to underline how recycled much of Madhouse is.
Buy Theater Of Blood/MadHouse (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
Labels:
1970s,
Hal Astell,
horror,
slasher,
Vincent Price
August 30, 2013
Movie Review: The Captains: Close Up (2013, Entertainment One)

...there's no denying that of all the associated personalities whom have embraceably prospered, in devoted advocation and uphelding of the enduring legacy of the 'Star Trek' franchise, actor William Shatner has led the pack, in that respect. Often in the past, he had been accused...even outright lambasted...even by those whom he had worked with...for 'shamelessly and egotistically' stepping up to the forefront, and seemingly self-servingly heralding his (...and ONLY his) efforts towards the classic sci-fi TV series; since those critically acidic and biting times, we have since better come to understand the much-more-seasoned, though no less bigger-than-life character, that IS William Shatner, and have come to realize that it is that it's that driven, 'egotistical', 'method-to-his-madness' pride of the work he has accomplished, acknowledgebly in TANDEM with those whom he has worked with, which has elevated the concept of 'Star Trek' to a pop culture level, almost quite literally far and above any of those fictionally conceived, unknown and unexplored worlds & destinations in the show (...as well as it's varied television and motion picture incarnations), countless light years away. It is that embraceable and unswerving ego, coupled with an incomparably jovial wit, which we have come to love, admire and appreciate over the years, and which has kept an incredibly laborious and untiring Bill in the forefront, in whatever he as done, be it his work in television, motion pictures and commercial endeavors (...one of this viewer's favorites is the clever 'hip-hop' musical styled deep fried turkey fire safety message, which he did for State Farm Insurance, reportedly based upon personal experience)...
August 27, 2013
Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #110 - Tardians of the Galaxy
Once they remember they're on a movie show, they review the blu-ray of The Walking Dead's third season, the Netflix original series House of Cards, Bonnie Rotten's Beyond Fucked for The Blue Cheese and the Rainn Wilson led Super. That leads Jeff and Kevin into a discussion about the fine work of James Gunn and his future with Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
After that, Kevin and Dave talk about their experience at Wizard World Chicago and the conventions they and the rest of Abnormal Entertainment plan to attend this year.
Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.
You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com or tweet us @CinHeadCheese.
Support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment by clicking the links on our Sponsors page!
John Carpenter's Body Bags and Assault on Precinct 13 coming to Collector's Edition Blu-ray!
A Horror Trilogy from the Master of Terror
JOHN CARPENTER PRESENTS BODY BAGS
Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™+ DVD Combo Pack
UNZIPS on Home Entertainment Shelves NOVEMBER 12, 2013
&
John Carpenter’s Acclaimed Thriller
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 COLLECTOR’S EDITION BLU-RAY™
Starring Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer
STORMS into Stores EVERYWHERE NOVEMBER 19, 2013
This November, high-tension suspense, action and fright collide when SCREAM FACTORY™ unleashes JOHN CARPENTER PRESENTS BODY BAGS Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™+ DVD combo pack on November 12, 2013 and John Carpenter’s classic siege thriller ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™ on November 19, 2013.For the first time on Blu-ray™, JOHN CARPENTER PRESENTS BODY BAGS features John Carpenter as a creepy-looking coroner introducing a trilogy of blood-curdling tales: “The Gas Station” (starring Robert Carradine, Revenge of the Nerds and Alex Datcher, Passenger 57), “Hair” (starring Stacy Keach, The Bourne Legacy), and “Eye”(Directed by Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist, and starring Mark Hamill, Star Wars). With special appearances by Deborah Harry (Scarface), Sheena Easton (Miami Vice), Twiggy, David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), John Agar (Tarantula), David Warner (The Omen) and cameos by notable horror film legends Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Tobe Hooper (Lifeforce, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead), Roger Corman (House of Usher) and Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), this pulse-pounding horror collection delivers a fright-filled night of terror to remember. This must-have collector’s edition features an uncut anamorphic widescreen presentation of the film (for the first time both on DVD & Blu-ray™) and is packed with exciting bonus content, a collectible cover featuring newly rendered retro-style artwork and more.
Delivering more terrifying perils and action suspense, John Carpenter’s acclaimed pre-Halloween thriller ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 all-new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™ hits home entertainment shelves everywhere on November 19 from Scream Factory. This definitive edition release of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 boasts a bounty of all-new special bonus content, a collectible cover featuring newly rendered retro-style artwork, a reversible wrap with original theatrical key art and much more!***Avid fans and collectors please take note: those who order JOHN CARPENTER PRESENTS BODY BAGS Collector’s Edition and/ or ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 Collector’s Edition from ScreamfactoryDVD.com will receive the respective exclusive 18”x24” poster featuring the newly commissioned artwork! These are only available while supplies last.***
Pre-order now at:
August 24, 2013
Movie Review: Combat Girls (aka Kriegerin, 2013)
There is no better quality for a movie to have, in my opinion, than the ability to drag you in by the emotional short hairs and hold you there for the duration. During the first few minutes of Combat Girls, a group of modern day Nazi kids living in Germany terrorize every passenger on a city bus in a way that made me absolutely loathe every one of them. I watched as they shoved one kid and called him a faggot. I sat with my heart racing as a young Asian guy was pummeled in front of his girlfriend. I wished I was on that bus. I wanted to be in a seat at the back of the bus with a bat or a pipe so that I could stand up and mash the unholy shit out of each of their skulls until they turned into pudding. I hated these people. HATED them. I've seen these assholes in the real world, and I've been the guy to step in on more than one occasion, not out of heroics, but out of anger and necessity. I can't stand aggressive bullies. It was like everyone involved with Combat Girls knew exactly where my buttons were, and they mashed all of them down as hard as they could with an open palm. For the rest of this movie, I was in, and there was no way for me to turn away. I needed justice in some manner or another.
Labels:
Artsploitation Films,
Combat Girls,
Germany,
Kevin Moyers,
Kriegerin,
Nazis,
political
August 23, 2013
THE DISASTER ARTIST by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell - Pre-order Bonus!
Oh, hi Mark!
If you pre-order THE DISASTER ARTIST: My Life Inside THE ROOM, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made, the upcoming memoir by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell (on sale October 1st, 2013) before September 15th and tell us via this form where you pre-ordered, you'll receive an email on September 16th with an exclusive invite to a Shindig Live video chat event with Greg himself!
* You must have a valid email address to receive the exclusive invite. *
You can pre-order the book on Amazon.com, then fill out this form to get your invite!
For more info on The Disaster Artist, check the official website: www.thedisasterartistbook.com
If you pre-order THE DISASTER ARTIST: My Life Inside THE ROOM, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made, the upcoming memoir by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell (on sale October 1st, 2013) before September 15th and tell us via this form where you pre-ordered, you'll receive an email on September 16th with an exclusive invite to a Shindig Live video chat event with Greg himself!
* You must have a valid email address to receive the exclusive invite. *
You can pre-order the book on Amazon.com, then fill out this form to get your invite!
For more info on The Disaster Artist, check the official website: www.thedisasterartistbook.com
Labels:
book,
Greg Sestero,
New Releases,
The Disaster Artist,
The Room,
Tom Bissell
August 22, 2013
Movie Review: One Touch of Venus (1948, Olive Films)
...Mr. Peabody, if you would, set the 'way-back' machine to a window of time...a span of years, from the mid-30's, to the late 40's...an uneasy and tumultuous era of progressively nation-involving conflict, culminating & peaking with World War II, and then, the post-war years...nations mourning their brave and battled dead. This was a time when whimsical escapism, fantastic flights of fantasy, and accompanying musical merriment held reign, in the cool and spectacled shrines...those movie palaces of yesteryear. 1941's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" offered battling boxers, taken away too soon, and coming back to life, haven been given another chance...1937's "Topper" afforded us fun-loving earthbound ghosts, in search of a good deed...1947's "Down to Earth" brought down the very gods from above, solely for the purpose of inspiration...1943's "A Guy Named Joe" also had it's inspiring heavenly protagonist, though in the unlikely guise of a beloved, albeit deceased pilot...1947's "The Bishop's Wife" and 1934's "Death Takes a Holiday" had watchful heavenly angels, as well as brooding angels of death, assuming human form...1944's "Outward Bound" caught snapshot glimpses of a select few in a post-death, afterlife state of limbo, bound for otherworldly destinations...and even the goddess Venus herself, could not help but come down from the heavens, in search of true love, by way of a bumbling, albeit hopelessly lovelorn department store window dresser, in the light-hearted, musically laden, romantic fantasy/comedy fluff from 1948, "One Touch of Venus"...August 21, 2013
Horny Diver: Tight Shellfish and Story of White Coat: Indecent Acts Bring the Nikkatsu Sleaze!
TWO NEW THRILLERS IN THE NIKKATSU EROTIC FILMS COLLECTION!
Story of White Coat: Indecent Acts and Horny Diver: Tight Shellfish
JAPANESE EROTIC DELIGHTS — WITH AN EDGE!
------------------------------------------------Story of White Coat: Indecent Acts
will nurse you back to health!
Poor virginal Shinobu! Her dream is to become a nurse and live a comfortable life, but that dream turns into a nightmare when she becomes the object of obsession for Junior, the sex crazed son of a major shareholder at the hospital where she works. When Junior is admitted to the hospital with alcohol poisoning, no nurse is safe! Will Shinobu escape Junior and his addiction to sex, or will she finally succumb to his amorous appetite? Story of White Coat: Indecent Acts is loaded with beautiful women, naughty sex and gratuitous nurse nudity. It may be just what the doctor ordered for your perverted sex fix!
August 19, 2013
Movie Review: Undertaker (2014, Synapse Films)
With Michigan's first ever Zombie Convention this past weekend, I had a great opportunity to view a Japanese horror movie that won't be released in the U.S. until sometime in 2014 and coming from Synapse Films. The people at Cinema Head Cheese may not know of my love for all Asian horror but what better way to find out than to have me review this flick?
Undertaker is 70 minutes of an interesting, sad, and unique Japanese spin on the zombie sub-genre of horror. It begins with a group of children being evacuated out of an apartment building. It seems the area is to be designated a quarantine zone and they need to get the kids out before it's too late. I guess the adults are expendable.
Ryouichi gets in the van, leaving his mother behind in the dark apartment. We never see her but from her gasping words it's clear she's already doomed. As he settles in for the long ride, his friend, Megumi, naps in the seat in front of him, feverishly whispering for someone to kill her. Uh oh.
Labels:
Japanese,
Peggy Christie,
post apocalyptic,
Synapse Films,
zombie
August 18, 2013
Movie Review: Dark Angel (1990, Blu-ray)
Dolph Lundgren has had a really nice little resurgence over the past couple of years with much more high profile projects. He was in both The Expendables I and II (and slated to return for the third!), the action flick The Package and the surprisingly good Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. There was time following his performance as "Ivan Drago" in Rocky IV where the Swedish born actor seemed be in get some roles in some enjoyable action pictures. One of those movies was the 1990 Sci-fi / Horror / Action hybrid from director Craig Baxley titled Dark Angel.
Originally released in the
states and on video under the title I Come in Peace, Scream Factory has the
Director's Cut available now on Blu-ray with some cool extra features and a
nice high-definition makeover to boot.
While trying to foil a big drug deal by the city’s biggest
criminals, “The White Boys”, Jack Caine (Lundgren) loses his partner. During
the bust, he gets distracted by a bunch of robbers shooting up a convenience store
nearby. Caine soon has another problem
that becomes an equally bad issue for the White Boys – a giant drug-dealing
alien killing machine (Mathias Hues, Executive Target). This alien not only steals heroin, he
shoots innocent people in the head with the smack using a large need-like
device.
August 16, 2013
Movie Review: Battle Earth (2012, DVD)
Review By: Rob Sibley
Have you ever sat through a movie that's so boring that it makes you want to self harm? Well if you're suicidal then Battle Earth is your ticket to paradise. Just take a look at that cover art... looks fun right? Soldiers, a destroyed city, a helicopter and look an Independence Day style space ship! Oh yeah... besides the soldiers you don't get any space ships or burning city's. What you get is a group of Canadian's playing soldiers in the woods for an hour and a half. It sounds like I'm being harsh but seriously this film is fucking boring. If you looked up boring in the dictionary you'd find this film. Nothing happens until the final ten minutes and when the shit hits the fan... well it's disappointing... much like a Thai massage with no happy ending. No me love you long time here folks. Just blue balls and disappointment all around. Pardon the sexual puns, I had to entertain myself somehow.
Let's get the "Plot" out of the way first right? Sorry I faded away for a bit just thinking how this film felt longer then a fucking Leonard Cohen song. Confirmation of extraterrestrial life appears on television screens across the world as a massive spacecraft breaks through the atmosphere on a crash course into the Atlantic Ocean. A young paramedic, Greg Baker, signs up to fight for his planet against the invaders. Baker joins Special Forces members as the squad medic as they escort a classified package by chopper over enemy territory. When their chopper is shot down they find themselves surrounded and outnumbered. Desperate to return to his wife's side and haunted by nightmares, Baker find that his role in the war has quickly become much larger than he could have ever imagined. The mysterious package may be the key to turning the tide of the war, and possibly to saving all of humanity, but Baker must decide whether to protect it or sacrifice it to ensure his own survival.
Have you ever sat through a movie that's so boring that it makes you want to self harm? Well if you're suicidal then Battle Earth is your ticket to paradise. Just take a look at that cover art... looks fun right? Soldiers, a destroyed city, a helicopter and look an Independence Day style space ship! Oh yeah... besides the soldiers you don't get any space ships or burning city's. What you get is a group of Canadian's playing soldiers in the woods for an hour and a half. It sounds like I'm being harsh but seriously this film is fucking boring. If you looked up boring in the dictionary you'd find this film. Nothing happens until the final ten minutes and when the shit hits the fan... well it's disappointing... much like a Thai massage with no happy ending. No me love you long time here folks. Just blue balls and disappointment all around. Pardon the sexual puns, I had to entertain myself somehow.
Let's get the "Plot" out of the way first right? Sorry I faded away for a bit just thinking how this film felt longer then a fucking Leonard Cohen song. Confirmation of extraterrestrial life appears on television screens across the world as a massive spacecraft breaks through the atmosphere on a crash course into the Atlantic Ocean. A young paramedic, Greg Baker, signs up to fight for his planet against the invaders. Baker joins Special Forces members as the squad medic as they escort a classified package by chopper over enemy territory. When their chopper is shot down they find themselves surrounded and outnumbered. Desperate to return to his wife's side and haunted by nightmares, Baker find that his role in the war has quickly become much larger than he could have ever imagined. The mysterious package may be the key to turning the tide of the war, and possibly to saving all of humanity, but Baker must decide whether to protect it or sacrifice it to ensure his own survival.
Movie Review: Tai Chi Hero (2012, Blu-ray)
Review By: Rob Sibley
Tai Chi Hero is the sequel to the hugely successful martial arts/cyber punk epic "Tai Chi Zero". I enjoyed the first film but I thought it didn't push the boundaries enough. It was a zany film sure but it could have went further and could have fleshed out it's characters more. Lucky for us though Tai Chi Hero is a better film in every way imaginable.
Lu Chan (Jayden Yuan) is still trying to find his place in Chen Village, the legendary town where everyone is a martial arts master and Chen-style Tai Chi is forbidden to outsiders. But since he helped save the town from a steam powered machine, Yuniang (Angelababy), beautiful daughter of the Grandmaster Chen (Tony Leung), agrees to marry Lu Chan and bring him into the family. However, it's only a formality - she is the teacher and he is the student and that suits Lu Chan just fine, as the mutant horn on his head gives him incredible kung fu power but leaves him dumber and closer to death each time he uses it. Chen Village still stands in the shadow of danger. A prodigal brother returns, Lu Chan's presence invokes a curse on the town and Yuniang's scorned fiancee has an appetite for revenge, as well as some new partners in crime.
Tai Chi Hero is the sequel to the hugely successful martial arts/cyber punk epic "Tai Chi Zero". I enjoyed the first film but I thought it didn't push the boundaries enough. It was a zany film sure but it could have went further and could have fleshed out it's characters more. Lucky for us though Tai Chi Hero is a better film in every way imaginable.
Lu Chan (Jayden Yuan) is still trying to find his place in Chen Village, the legendary town where everyone is a martial arts master and Chen-style Tai Chi is forbidden to outsiders. But since he helped save the town from a steam powered machine, Yuniang (Angelababy), beautiful daughter of the Grandmaster Chen (Tony Leung), agrees to marry Lu Chan and bring him into the family. However, it's only a formality - she is the teacher and he is the student and that suits Lu Chan just fine, as the mutant horn on his head gives him incredible kung fu power but leaves him dumber and closer to death each time he uses it. Chen Village still stands in the shadow of danger. A prodigal brother returns, Lu Chan's presence invokes a curse on the town and Yuniang's scorned fiancee has an appetite for revenge, as well as some new partners in crime.
Labels:
Blu-Ray,
Martial Arts,
Peter Stormare,
Shu Qi,
Stephen Fung,
Well Go USA
August 15, 2013
Movie Review: "Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff" (1978, Vinegar Syndrome)
...this ardent and open-minded viewer, in engaging a review of the film you are about to be privy to, haplessly found himself at the indelible horns of a frustratingly interesting dilemma; having recently partaken of the controversial and rarely seen 1978 exploitation drama, "Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff" (...also known as "The Sin" and "The Shaming", in alternate theatrical re-release and broadcast cable venues), this viewer had afterwards placed the crust of director Marvin J. Chomsky's powerhouse of a film, and it's viscerally daring subject matter, on a mental display stand...indeterminately and indecisively circling the whole of the film...poking and prodding...the arduous challenge being, trying how best to approach it from an objectively critical standpoint. In the course of better understanding...historically, as well as literary, considering the source material, which this film is based (...in this case, the best selling novel of the same name, by author William Inge, who previously penned "Come Back, Little Sheba", "Bus Stop" and "Picnic")...this viewer especially could not help but feel thrice parallel divided and segmented, in the sense of desiring to be a fly on the wall on multiple levels, with regards to both the time & place of the film's events, the time & place when this movie itself was released, and finally, the ensuing aftermath thoughts of having viewed the film, in the midst of today's social climate. Amusingly enough, much like the film's evasive advertising campaign, this viewer has thus far avoided delving into exactly how provocatively powerful, traumatically explicit, emotionally distressing, and overall compellingly thought-provoking this film is. And at some point, dammit, one has to stop trying to say it, or stop trying to say around it, and just come out and say it, right?? So, enough of this pussy-footing, big-toe-testing-the-waters lolly-gagging; let's jump head first into these provocative waters, shall we...??Movie Review: Sushi Girl (2012, Magnolia)
...before gleefully and dutifully engaging this review, let's start off by saying that this viewer is a sucker for a good movie trailer. Beyond the generated hype & publicity of a movie, the advance viewing & review by critics, the suggested star power & creative hand...both behind & in front of the camera, the leaked footage & behind-the-scenes video commentary...it is a stand-out, well crafted movie trailer that quite literally grabs me by the shirt collar, slams me resoundingly up against the wall, and insistently commands my utmost attention. Granted, as does happen from time to time, some movie trailers DO exclusively feature what is best about a specific movie, with the movie itself, on a whole, proving to be something less than what the trailer promised; that's part of the gamble, I suppose...the nature of the beast...when one gets irresistably and invariably pulled in by the suggested content of the movie trailer, and as the result, committedly lays down one's hard earned samolians for the feature film, itself. However, when a movie carried through on the promise...'walks the walk', rather than merely 'talk the talk', via it's intendedly influential and compelling movie trailer, one cannot help but praise that artfully creative little two-to-two-and-a-half minutes of tease...that eye-and-mind-catching vanguard of great things to come...in the same light as the film itself proves to be...the trailer, being merely a tantilizing taste at the bottom of the shotglass...and the film, harboring the numbing contents of the whole bottle...August 14, 2013
Where's My Cake??? "Creepshow" Coming to Blu-ray From Second Sight Films!
One of the classic horror anthologies, Creepshow is the gloriously ghoulish collection of comic book tales served up by the masters of macabre Stephen King and George A. Romero. It finally makes its much-anticipated Blu-ray debut thanks to Second Sight Films.Relish the family reunion and the murdered father who still wants his cake; the backwards farmer who discovers a meteorite with a life of its own; one husband’s vengeful plan that will leave his cheating wife and her lover up to their necks in it; another’s hope that the vicious occupant of a mysterious crate may be the answer to his nagging wife problem; and in the final gross-out tale a malicious millionaire with an insect phobia gets a scuttling surprise.
August 13, 2013
Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #109 - Wizard World Chicago 2013
Dave interviews Punx of Rage writer Joe Currie and artist Shawn Alleyne from Pyroglyphics Studios. He also interviews Mike and Roze from the new horror flick Speak No Evil. Tune in next week for a complete con wrap up.
Find Joe at punxofrage.net.
Shawn is at pyroglyphics1.deviantart.com.
Mike and Roze can be found at mindplate.tv.
Watch the videos of these interviews at youtube.com/cinemaheadcheese.
Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.
You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com or tweet us @CinHeadCheese.
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