Movie Scum

One of the better parts of the much maligned Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and just about the only redeeming quality in the absolutely horrid Nightmare 5 was the beautiful Alice Johnson, played by Lisa Wilcox. Alice was actually one of the better written characters in the Nightmare franchise and while some of the dialogue was clumsy at time, Wilcox performed better than expected in the third and fourth sequels in a series that was unfortunately going downhill fast. After Nightmare 5 came out in 1989, Wilcox seems to have been largely off the grid. According to her IMDb resume , she has appeared in a handful of small films and some guest appearances on various television series. While this certainly may be an intentional choice by the actress, it is rather disheartening to see someone go from headlining two relatively popular movies to fading into the oblivion of scraping by with acting gigs here and there. Recently, she has appeared with fellow Nightmare star Robert Englund and other

Is Adam Sandler funny? Short answer is yes. I don't think there is anyone among us that did not like, and can't quote incessantly, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. Unless you are a communist, of course. But, honestly, why do I keep watching his movies? With a few exceptions, I can sum up the plot of any of his films as follows: Generally good hearted buffoon placed in an odd situation that he tries to get a handle on, while trying to woo a woman. Even the better of his films follow that basic recipe. It's like Mexican food. You can order 11 different items, but they all have the same stuff in them. Yet I continue to consume. I can't even really apply the Weekend at Bernie's Effect here, because while he does have some watchable films ( Wedding Singer , Punch Drunk Love , Funny People ), I cannot watch some of his others ( Little Nicky , The Waterboy , Spanglish ). When he was on Saturday Night Live, he was hilarious. The Denise Show, Canteen Boy, The Gap Girls. B

Many people know who John Holmes was. Even if they have not seen his "work." If you do not, he was arguably the most famous porn star ever, largely (no pun intedned) due to being so well endowed. Not very many people know that along with being a drug addict, he also played some part in the Wonderland murders that took place in 1981; the brutal blugeoning of 5 people, one of which survived. I say "some part" as it has never been determined what part, but his fingerprints were found at the scene on Wonderland Ave, the namesake of the crimes and movie. What I will not do in this review is give my commentary of what I think happened, make any remark to any factual discrepensies (I obviously was not involved, therefore would not have the authority to do so) or offer any moral opinion of any of the people involved in the actual events that took place. I will simply give a review of the film. Wonderland really serves one major purpose, aside from being entertainment:

Paramount to produce more micro-budget films In the wake of Paranormal Activity, Paramount seems to be on-board with more tiny-budget films. Let's hope they do not end up in the DTV-bargain bin dreck. The Weinstein Company Has Begun Re-Thinking 'Halloween 3D' The last thing this battered franchise needs is a rushed sequel showcasing lackluster 3D effects. Just keep Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer on the project and it should turn out fine. Josh Brolin in 'Men in Black 3'?!!?!?! Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones reunited again? Maybe we'll get Woody Harrelson from his 'Zombieland' stint and Javier Bardem can play the evil alien with a pressure-based-doorknob-busting thing. Additional Scenes Being Shot for 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' I'm still going to hold out hope that this will be a great remake . All signs seem to point otherwise though.

My love affair with the movie Hannibal is long and twisted. At the time before its release, I loved its predecessor Silence of the Lambs for many reasons but primarily due to its legendary villain, Hannibal Lector. During the pre-production phase of Hannibal, it seemed to be dealt several marks against it from Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster dropping out as well as a general disdain for the ending of the book. I was still excited at the prospect though and even went so far as to go to an open casting call for extras as it was filming in my hometown. And then, on opening weekend in 2001, I saw the film with a friend of mine ... and I freaking hated it. I can't remember exactly why I did not care for it. At the time, and even more so now, I liked Julianne Moore but she just seemed rather out of place as Clarice. Perhaps it was also due to a drastic shift in tone or pace from the first (technically second) Hannibal adventure. But bottom line, I was ready to write the film off and

Well, sort of. Those of you who are fans of horrible acting, convoluted plots, continuity errors, and major flaws in logic can take solace in knowing the great Mystery Science Theater 3000 has returned. Hulu recently picked up the show and currently have five full episodes available ranging from the terrible Giant Gila Monster to the equally bad Monster-A-Go-Go. While the episodes are not "new," they may be new to you. No sign of Mitchell or Manos yet, but hopefully they'll turn up in time. Now go watch!

Oh, my. The Gate . Why did I like you? For the uninitiated, this is Stephen Dorf's first film. Honestly, it is not really that good, but as far as bad movies go, it is pretty good. Here is the basic plot. Parents leave teenage daugther and pre-teen son for 3 days because they "trust" them. Son and friend accidentally open a gate to hell in the backyard. Way to piss all over your parents' trust, kid. Basically what happens is, a tree with a treehouse in it is knocked over which causes a hole. While messing around back there, Glen (Stephen Dorf), the aforementioned son, and his friend Terry find a geode in it and get all excited because it will surely get them "100 bucks!" This, coupled with an accidental reciting of some magic words, and a dead dog being put in the hole, blast open a gate to hell. Terry, who is a metalhead, will discover the whole story while listening to an album by a band called Sacrifyx. The album is called The Dark Book and comes with s

Born in 1982, I was technically alive in a great era of many genres ranging from the cheap slasher movie explosion of the 80s to all the teen movies made by or inspired by John Hughes and his movie-making machine. Much to the chagrin of PBF though, there are several staples of the decade that I haven't yet seen. This is one of the movies. High school is an interesting time for anyone. For most, you are thrown together for eight hours a day with a diverse group of people that you would never otherwise associate with. Some of these people you end up bonding with, others you wish would die in a fire at your earliest convenience. You are all held together by a common set of arbitrary rules and controls dictated by people who literally seem to hate your very existence. The Breakfast Club almost perfectly embodies these typical frustrations of an adolescent during four years of their life. At the start of the film you have the five food groups of a high school: jocks, freaks, nerds,

No one has ever heard of the movie Jesus' Son when I ask them about it. I myself, saw it by happenstance. I was flipping through the guide on the cable box and saw the synopsis for this film. It listed Frank Black (lead singer of the Pixies) as being in it. Having never seen Frank Black in a movie I turned it on. Turns out it was a misprint, and it was in fact Jack Black. However, what I found was quite an interesting film. Billy Crudup plays a character listed as FH, or Fuck Head. He narrates the story, which starts in the middle, backs up and then cathes up with itself around the real middle of the film. A large chunk of it deals with his heroin addiction (the title of the movie comes from a line in Lou Reed's song "Heroin") but the movie is really more than that. We watch a journey through life, as FH deals with whatever he encounters, and how he moves from one thing to the next. The movie is actually quite nicely directed. At some points during the narration, i

History certainly seems to repeat itself. Films in 3D have been around for a while but seem to have peaks and valleys in their popularity. With the last burst of 3D cinema occurring close to thirty years ago (perhaps it follows the remake timeline ), more films recently have been released relying on the concept of adding that extra dimension to movies. With James Cameron's much publicized Avatar set to drop later this month, 3D films could be facing a huge resurgence depending on this film's success. But my question stems from an article quoting James Gianopulos, the CEO of Fox who was overseeing the production of Avatar: "As Jim says, we experience the world in 3D, why should we experience film any different?" Having only seen one film in theaters with 3D segments (for the record, that was the terrible Freddy's Dead ), I can't really speak for how well depth perception is really conveyed. My questions are, if films have been shot in regular 2D for de

While I fully realize that a fourth movie adaptation to the popular video game franchise is in the works, I would love to see a movie based on the events of the fourth video game. In RE4 as the cool kids call it, Leon Kennedy is sent to a quaint European village to rescue the stupid daughter of the United States President. He encounters there cult members who have had their bodies taken over by a parasite of some kind and who will stop at nothing to kill Leon before he rescues the damsel in distress. Many hi-jinks ensue with Leon battling chainsaw-wielding maniacs, big baddies in lakes and castles, and some creepy guy trying to sell things in dark alleys. While it has been a while since I've last played the game, that's about the gist of the story. And it's fan-freakin-tastic. Playing the game, I thought how cool would it be for a zombie movie (or any horror movie in general) to capture the atmosphere and mood of this game. At any time, around any corner could be some

I realize that we are all somewhat desensitized to violence and horror today. I mean, what would scare the bejesus out of someone 10-15 years ago in a movie has probably been shown on Sesame Street by now. There are a few films that, while they do not "scare" me, they are classic, gore trash, that I love. Here is a small list of them, so that you may find them for yourself and enjoy. 1. Tombs of the Blind Dead. This is Spanish (Portugal) with subtitles. There is a bit of a creepiness to it, but it is just good cheeseball horror. It is not as gory as some others on this list, but there is some people eating. Something kind of funny about blind templars wandering around until they bump into someone and then eat them. 2. Cannibal Ferox. Italian. Oh my. This is so fucking hilarious. Basically, there are the some college kids and a coked up professor. They stumble upon a tribe of cannibals. This movie is sick. I mean, member of tribe cuts penis off and eats it. Need I say mo

So, DVDs have been around for over ten years, yet there are still films that were released long ago on VHS that have yet to see the day on DVD. Now, I have lived this long without, but it irritates me that there are still pockets of unrecognized films without proper representation on the digital standard (no, I'm not counting Blu-Ray at this point). While it was lauded as a groundbreaking "meta" film at the time, some of the luster has worn off Wes Craven's Scream . However, it is still a highly entertaining exercise in understanding Kevin Williamson's highly unrealistic teenage dialect wrapped in a pretty decent slasher film. While this film has been on DVD for some time, it is not anamorphic so it looks like crap on my TV in stretch-o-vision and it is even the version trimmed down to appease the dolts at the MPAA. If Paramount can release Event Horizon on DVD three times , surely Dimension can throw a few dollars toward a decent, uncut release of this "

Here is a link that you must click . Only play that video. Do not click any of the other tabs like "Freddy Krueger" and watch those videos. Shitty music tributes. But that one is tight, right? Badass! Well, forget about that, that is not a trailer for the real movie. In case you did not know, there is a remake, or reboot, or possible rape of A Nightmare On Elm Street due to be released in 2010. That trailer you watched is by Christopher Johnson , an actor, writer, and producer, although most of his work seems to be in visual effects. He apparently is so excited about the new movie that he made that trailer. I was let down a bit after finding out that it wasn't for the real movie. However, after watching one , I did feel a little better. Right off, it looks pretty damn frightening.

After watching Terminator Salvation , I was reminded of a skit that was basically a parody of dating services that used to play on MadTV called "Lowered Expectations." It's always frustrating to sit down to see a movie you've heard countless great things about only to be disappointed. Currently enjoying a rather deplorable 32% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Salvation didn't have a whole lot going for it as I sat down and pressed play. While not the pinnacle of the Terminator franchise by any stretch, Salvation certainly was not the worst either. John Connor, now played by Christian Bale , still stuck in his gravely Batman voice, is joined by some new and old friends as he attempts to lead a small band of nuclear holocaust survivors against their machinist overlords. The funny thing about this film is that while the first three in the series focused on the Connor family in their dealings with their pending fate, this film turns more to Marcus Wright, played by

I came across this You Tube video while trying to find info on a Thundercats movie. While I cannot validate that it is real, it seems to have Vin Diesel as Panthro and what appears to be Posh Spice as Cheetara. It also says that is will be out in 2009, so decide for yourself. In that video, Lion-O does seem to be voiced by Larry Kenney from the cartoon, but I cannot tell if it is physically him in that get up. I do, however vow to you this: if Vin Diesel is in that movie, I will punch an immigrant. And did you see Snarf? Did someone just superimpose a drawing over the film for God's sake? Now, I also found that alternatively, the movie will be CGI and out in 2010 . Note the date on that post is 2007. I cannot find any real recent info (I will admit I got as far as page 3 of the search results, so if there is decent info beyond that, my bad). Thundercats was badass. My favorite episodes were the Lion-O Anoitment episodes. There were 5 of them and he had to challenge the others aga

The First Official Images from 'Sex and the City 2' We still have no sequel to Ghostbusters and no progress on a feature film of Arrested Development but we do have a sequel to a movie that made men all over America cringe. Bravo, Hollywood. Welcome Back to 'Zombieland'...In 3D! Sadly, I did not get to see Zombieland in theaters but from all I have heard about it, a sequel in 3D is going to be awesome! Cast Announced for 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins' More zombies! Although, with the exception of Danielle Harris, I can't find one good thing about another g-d remake/sequel/whatever to the original Night. Pick a different public domain movie to shit on people!

You ever notice that there is a bastard sequel stuck in most lengthy franchises? There is fairly often a sequel that doesn't have anything to do with any of the rest of the films in the series. For example, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge. That title is misleading. Freddy isn't taking revenge on anyone from the first movie, cause no one from it shows up until part 3. In fact, he "possesses" this kid who does the killing, rather than trying to kill the kids of the parents that burned him alive. Then part 3 pickes up with Nancy, and it continues it's formula of survivor of last film gets killed in next, leave one survivor, repeat. Next, lets look at Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. According to IMDB, the reason this one was different, was because John Carpenter planned to release a new movie each year, with a completely different story. Due to poor box office performance, Michael Meyers was resurrected for part 4. I would believe that i

In my opinion, 1994 was one of the best years of cinema featuring many films that I continue to watch frequently. There were event films like the (overrated) Forrest Gump, summer popcorn movies like Speed, sequels that no one else seemed to like such as New Nightmare, as well as many others. One film that has withstood the test of time for effective filmmaking is True Lies . Originally, I was going to write about how Tia Carrere seemed to drop off the face of the earth as she is especially good in this film. But then I looked at her IMDb page and was surprised she has actually been in quite a few projects, several unfortunately only showcasing her vocal talents. But as I continued watching, I remembered this is a kickass movie.

Summit Pictures To Distend TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN! Will they call the second part "Breaking Dawn 2: Electric Boogalo"? Paul Greengrass Quits 'Bourne 4'? Well that sucks. Even if the camera work induces seizures and vomiting, Supremacy and Ultimatum were awesome. And not just because of Joan Allen either. ClearPlay introduces first content filtering 1080p upscaling DVD player I'm confused. Is this marketed to parents who are just too selfish to watch family-friendly movies or those who are too lazy to actually do something other than watch TV with their kids.