Just an amazing video:
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Finish Him
Ok. Here is a trailer that made my day.
Yes, for every Mortal Kombat fan, this movie seems to deliver the promise of a fun movie! This is one re-boot that I'm in favor of! The first movie was just funny with it's techno music and fight scenes as well as a healthy dose of bad acting. Just by watching the trailer for the new one I see they did so many things right this time... killed off Johnny Cage that boring p.... and instead of Kung Lao we now have my favorite MK character the lead in the story... Scorpio!!! Yes the nerd in me took over. Also a great idea is to make Barraka and Reptile just very twisted humans. Gory glory.
It was first said to be released in 2010 but there is a 2013 date out there as well which I think is more likely seeing that it's been so quite about this movie as well a newsflash saying another production company is suing Warner for whatever reason, thus preventing an earlier release.
But this one goes on the list!
Yes, for every Mortal Kombat fan, this movie seems to deliver the promise of a fun movie! This is one re-boot that I'm in favor of! The first movie was just funny with it's techno music and fight scenes as well as a healthy dose of bad acting. Just by watching the trailer for the new one I see they did so many things right this time... killed off Johnny Cage that boring p.... and instead of Kung Lao we now have my favorite MK character the lead in the story... Scorpio!!! Yes the nerd in me took over. Also a great idea is to make Barraka and Reptile just very twisted humans. Gory glory.
It was first said to be released in 2010 but there is a 2013 date out there as well which I think is more likely seeing that it's been so quite about this movie as well a newsflash saying another production company is suing Warner for whatever reason, thus preventing an earlier release.
But this one goes on the list!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Vikings on acid
Here is the trailer for a movie I was excited about - Valhalla Rising
But what a let-down! If I may summarize: it's a movie about Vikings on acid. There you have it. It's one bad trip in the length of a movie. Actually to be fair, it starts out quite well. It's mysterious, brutal and serious, like a viking movie should be. But then it goes off... and never lands back on the ground. As far as I could tell the storyline is this - one bad-ass guy is a slave forced to fight staged fights for his master, similar to a gladiator. He then escapes killing everybody who enslaved him. On his way through the lands of England(?) he meets christian warriors (sitting around a pile of butchered people) who are about to set sails to Jerusalem. He accepts the invitation. In between he has spaced out visions in red. There are long shots of his face staring into the distance. Next comes a long scene on the boat they travel on. There is nothing but fog, depression and spaced out visions again. Now they have apparently landed in America ! Yes, somebody didn't know how to navigate or was too spaced out the entire trip. And now the real tripping begins. They wander off, bathe in mud, float in water, pile up stones and there are more visions in red. They start killing each other until at the end (spoiler alert) our main bad ass drops his weapons and walks towards a group of hostile looking indians only to be beaten to death. The end.
Jeesh. I felt bad after having spent all that time watching this thing.
So on to the next movie - Kick Ass
Apparently its based on a comic and is essentially a movie about a teenager who decides to try to be a superhero and fight crime. The movie has it's moments and is amusing but very clearly a teen flick. But here's where it lost me a little. It decides to show brutal actions scenes with people being stabbed, shot in the face, blown to pieces, burned alive and so on. It comes as a surprise especially when the person doing most of the mayhem is an 11 years old girl! Yes, she has been trained by her daddy (played by Nicholas Cages) to fight crime in a costume. The scene that I had trouble with was when her father, as part of the training, shoots the girl in the chest with a gun. She was wearing a bullet-proof west we find out, so she survives, but am I the only one who finds just something still wrong about this?
I watch horror movies depicting the most brutal and horrific scenes with delight in my eyes, but I have some areas where I say "don't go there!". Although I had fun watching this movie, I still have to say - that crossed a line for me.
I just think that movies are beginning to push the limit to shock the audience but funnily enough showing nipples is still off limits and we should rather watch someone slowly burn alive. It just feels strange as this is a movie directed mostly to a younger audience (teens).
A totally different point is the music. In one action scene they played a Prodigy song which was kind of cool because I love that song and had actually thought to myself it would fit as a theme to a movie. But then during a dramatic scene I suddenly shouted "HOLD ON you somomab...!!" - in my head. They used the music from one of my favorite movies of all times - 28 days later. Now I don't know the rules here but in my book, that's a HUGE no-no. If you have read my posts you will have noticed I pay attention to movie music and am greatly influenced by it. That's why I associate certain theme songs with that movie. Hearing it used in another movie automatically degrades that movie to me as it couldn't even be bothered with composing it's own music. So a big minus on that account!
But what a let-down! If I may summarize: it's a movie about Vikings on acid. There you have it. It's one bad trip in the length of a movie. Actually to be fair, it starts out quite well. It's mysterious, brutal and serious, like a viking movie should be. But then it goes off... and never lands back on the ground. As far as I could tell the storyline is this - one bad-ass guy is a slave forced to fight staged fights for his master, similar to a gladiator. He then escapes killing everybody who enslaved him. On his way through the lands of England(?) he meets christian warriors (sitting around a pile of butchered people) who are about to set sails to Jerusalem. He accepts the invitation. In between he has spaced out visions in red. There are long shots of his face staring into the distance. Next comes a long scene on the boat they travel on. There is nothing but fog, depression and spaced out visions again. Now they have apparently landed in America ! Yes, somebody didn't know how to navigate or was too spaced out the entire trip. And now the real tripping begins. They wander off, bathe in mud, float in water, pile up stones and there are more visions in red. They start killing each other until at the end (spoiler alert) our main bad ass drops his weapons and walks towards a group of hostile looking indians only to be beaten to death. The end.
Jeesh. I felt bad after having spent all that time watching this thing.
So on to the next movie - Kick Ass
Apparently its based on a comic and is essentially a movie about a teenager who decides to try to be a superhero and fight crime. The movie has it's moments and is amusing but very clearly a teen flick. But here's where it lost me a little. It decides to show brutal actions scenes with people being stabbed, shot in the face, blown to pieces, burned alive and so on. It comes as a surprise especially when the person doing most of the mayhem is an 11 years old girl! Yes, she has been trained by her daddy (played by Nicholas Cages) to fight crime in a costume. The scene that I had trouble with was when her father, as part of the training, shoots the girl in the chest with a gun. She was wearing a bullet-proof west we find out, so she survives, but am I the only one who finds just something still wrong about this?
I watch horror movies depicting the most brutal and horrific scenes with delight in my eyes, but I have some areas where I say "don't go there!". Although I had fun watching this movie, I still have to say - that crossed a line for me.
I just think that movies are beginning to push the limit to shock the audience but funnily enough showing nipples is still off limits and we should rather watch someone slowly burn alive. It just feels strange as this is a movie directed mostly to a younger audience (teens).
A totally different point is the music. In one action scene they played a Prodigy song which was kind of cool because I love that song and had actually thought to myself it would fit as a theme to a movie. But then during a dramatic scene I suddenly shouted "HOLD ON you somomab...!!" - in my head. They used the music from one of my favorite movies of all times - 28 days later. Now I don't know the rules here but in my book, that's a HUGE no-no. If you have read my posts you will have noticed I pay attention to movie music and am greatly influenced by it. That's why I associate certain theme songs with that movie. Hearing it used in another movie automatically degrades that movie to me as it couldn't even be bothered with composing it's own music. So a big minus on that account!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sandwitch
Have a few themes today all squished into a mouth-watering snack.
Let's begin with some news. Just read that another anime title is being made into a feature film - Wicked City. Assume that nobody has seen this but me so I should explain that this is more of a hentai movie. It has strong sexual content which I don't think will be translated into the feature film (too bad). I loved the story-line from the original which is based on a Japanese comic. The story tells of a demonic parallel world that is breaching into our world and a team of agents from both sides, human and demons, which is meant to eliminate any demons that cross over to protect the balance. Heard rumors that the making of this film is still uncertain although preparations have begun. I think it's a cool story-line that could make a great movie, yet as always - I shall remain skeptical as Blood: the last Vampire has taught me to be.
Another re-make that's in the making is Fright Night - a great 80's teen-flick that I watched countless times and doesn't lose its charm. That is why I am not sure why this movie is being made or what it wants to bring to the table. It now plays in Las Vegas and as I read it is to have more links towards modern times ...whatever that means ("dude, when I face-booked him I found out he's a blood sucker!").
Next a movie recommendation. Timecrimes. This is a totally under-played low budget gem that I stumbled upon and comes from Spain. I have a hard time to label this as I found it under the category of horror yet it has strong elements of suspense and subtle science fiction. In fact, this is in my opinion, one of the better movies with the theme of time-travel. The logic of time-travel and the effects of it can often be very confusing and many stories have been unable to keep a strong logic behind these effects. The movies that stood out to me were titles like - 13 monkeys, the butterfly effect, the jacket and terminator. But back to Timecrimes. I don't wish to go into the story as it is delicious for an unsuspecting viewer and often times had me feeling "where the hell are they going with this?" but ended with me going "aaaah." I hope that tells you all you need to know. So now go and see it!
Let's begin with some news. Just read that another anime title is being made into a feature film - Wicked City. Assume that nobody has seen this but me so I should explain that this is more of a hentai movie. It has strong sexual content which I don't think will be translated into the feature film (too bad). I loved the story-line from the original which is based on a Japanese comic. The story tells of a demonic parallel world that is breaching into our world and a team of agents from both sides, human and demons, which is meant to eliminate any demons that cross over to protect the balance. Heard rumors that the making of this film is still uncertain although preparations have begun. I think it's a cool story-line that could make a great movie, yet as always - I shall remain skeptical as Blood: the last Vampire has taught me to be.
Another re-make that's in the making is Fright Night - a great 80's teen-flick that I watched countless times and doesn't lose its charm. That is why I am not sure why this movie is being made or what it wants to bring to the table. It now plays in Las Vegas and as I read it is to have more links towards modern times ...whatever that means ("dude, when I face-booked him I found out he's a blood sucker!").
Next a movie recommendation. Timecrimes. This is a totally under-played low budget gem that I stumbled upon and comes from Spain. I have a hard time to label this as I found it under the category of horror yet it has strong elements of suspense and subtle science fiction. In fact, this is in my opinion, one of the better movies with the theme of time-travel. The logic of time-travel and the effects of it can often be very confusing and many stories have been unable to keep a strong logic behind these effects. The movies that stood out to me were titles like - 13 monkeys, the butterfly effect, the jacket and terminator. But back to Timecrimes. I don't wish to go into the story as it is delicious for an unsuspecting viewer and often times had me feeling "where the hell are they going with this?" but ended with me going "aaaah." I hope that tells you all you need to know. So now go and see it!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Swede-o-mania
For those who have missed it, there have been a few gems turning up from Sweden recently so I want take the time to introduce some of them.
To begin with there is Let the right one in. This is one of the best vampire films out there and came out of nowhere leaving me baffled when I first saw it.
The story is unusual to begin with as it's about vampires, but the main antagonists are kids. It follows a young boy who befriends a girl seemingly his age that turns out to be a vampire. This movie perfectly balances the childish playfulness and humor with brutal reality. It places vampires as simple reality and treats the fact without glamor, special mysticism or the expected romantic/erotic features that we have come to expect. Also the story is told without the usual drama surrounding the blood-suckers. This was what made the movie stand out to me.
The actors were thankfully brilliant. Children acting in movies are such a big risk because there simply aren't that many good actors that young out there. We have all sat through a movie that placed too much focus on a badly acted youngster, which in turn destroyed the entire movie even if the co-actors did a brilliant job.
Of course, this movie is being re-done by Hollywood (explain to me why?). I knew it was a bad idea from the start, but when i heard the title I let out a long and heavy sigh. After watching the movie I felt the original title Let the right one in could both be seen from the boy's perspective - as he must invite the vampire in before she could enter his place (as is the common rule of vampires) and by doing so is risking his life, but also from her perspective - as she is searching for a new companion that she desperately needs to survive and must equally trust with her life.
The american title is - Let me in. Yep, no need to think on this one. Either they didn't get the original title or felt it was too complicated. The same way I expect the movie will be a watered down version of the original stripped of any scenes or story twists that might have you think for a second.
The second movie is actually a trilogy also known as the Millennium trilogy. A Swedish author and journalist by the name of Stieg Larsson wrote these books passing away just after finishing the last in the series. These have now all been filmed and were a great surprise to watch.
The first movie/book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can actually be seen as a stand-alone as it is a complete totally gripping story with a beginning and proper end (in contrast to the "to be continued...."). The story follows a journalist, who has been disgraced after a seemingly shocking report by him backfires and he is jailed for fabricating allegations. He receives a second chance when a rich old man hires him to track his niece and find out what happened to her. The twist: she mysteriously disappeared 40 years ago.
The journalist teams up with a young goth-looking woman, who turns out to be a brilliant researcher with a story of her own. We equally follow her (to who the title refers to) and the search for the missing girl. Both stories are brutal and tie you to the chair through the movie.
Again the stories are told without being dramatic about it.
The second movie -The Girl who played with Fire is undeniably a filler that leads you to the third and last movie. It is not bad, yet since it lacks the same sense of completion it feels a little weaker than the first one. The story is however very intriguing and takes you on a ride to a destination unknown. We now come to realize that the young punk-girl plays a much greater role and her story expands into the unexpected.
The third and last movie - The Girl who kicked the hornets' nest is the resolution of the entire story. It slows the pace and is more about clearing up the mysteries and finding piece and finally serving justice.
These movies get the highest grade from me and I strongly recommend checking them out.
If you are into horror movies, here at the end two good European slashers as a bonus since you read the whole thing :)
Norwegian - Fritt Vilt (english - Cold Prey)
Austrian - In 3 Tagen bist du tod (english - dead in 3 days
To begin with there is Let the right one in. This is one of the best vampire films out there and came out of nowhere leaving me baffled when I first saw it.
The story is unusual to begin with as it's about vampires, but the main antagonists are kids. It follows a young boy who befriends a girl seemingly his age that turns out to be a vampire. This movie perfectly balances the childish playfulness and humor with brutal reality. It places vampires as simple reality and treats the fact without glamor, special mysticism or the expected romantic/erotic features that we have come to expect. Also the story is told without the usual drama surrounding the blood-suckers. This was what made the movie stand out to me.
The actors were thankfully brilliant. Children acting in movies are such a big risk because there simply aren't that many good actors that young out there. We have all sat through a movie that placed too much focus on a badly acted youngster, which in turn destroyed the entire movie even if the co-actors did a brilliant job.
Of course, this movie is being re-done by Hollywood (explain to me why?). I knew it was a bad idea from the start, but when i heard the title I let out a long and heavy sigh. After watching the movie I felt the original title Let the right one in could both be seen from the boy's perspective - as he must invite the vampire in before she could enter his place (as is the common rule of vampires) and by doing so is risking his life, but also from her perspective - as she is searching for a new companion that she desperately needs to survive and must equally trust with her life.
The american title is - Let me in. Yep, no need to think on this one. Either they didn't get the original title or felt it was too complicated. The same way I expect the movie will be a watered down version of the original stripped of any scenes or story twists that might have you think for a second.
The second movie is actually a trilogy also known as the Millennium trilogy. A Swedish author and journalist by the name of Stieg Larsson wrote these books passing away just after finishing the last in the series. These have now all been filmed and were a great surprise to watch.
The first movie/book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can actually be seen as a stand-alone as it is a complete totally gripping story with a beginning and proper end (in contrast to the "to be continued...."). The story follows a journalist, who has been disgraced after a seemingly shocking report by him backfires and he is jailed for fabricating allegations. He receives a second chance when a rich old man hires him to track his niece and find out what happened to her. The twist: she mysteriously disappeared 40 years ago.
The journalist teams up with a young goth-looking woman, who turns out to be a brilliant researcher with a story of her own. We equally follow her (to who the title refers to) and the search for the missing girl. Both stories are brutal and tie you to the chair through the movie.
Again the stories are told without being dramatic about it.
The second movie -The Girl who played with Fire is undeniably a filler that leads you to the third and last movie. It is not bad, yet since it lacks the same sense of completion it feels a little weaker than the first one. The story is however very intriguing and takes you on a ride to a destination unknown. We now come to realize that the young punk-girl plays a much greater role and her story expands into the unexpected.
The third and last movie - The Girl who kicked the hornets' nest is the resolution of the entire story. It slows the pace and is more about clearing up the mysteries and finding piece and finally serving justice.
These movies get the highest grade from me and I strongly recommend checking them out.
If you are into horror movies, here at the end two good European slashers as a bonus since you read the whole thing :)
Norwegian - Fritt Vilt (english - Cold Prey)
Austrian - In 3 Tagen bist du tod (english - dead in 3 days
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Proven Wrong
Ok, I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong, so it's funny that just one post ago I was complaining about a lack of good sci-fi movies coming out.
Then I watched Pandorum. This movie surprised me as I wasn't expecting much. It was actually really fun to watch and had some great twists at the end. Here is my short review and to be fair - Spoiler Alert! I will be going into some story plot details.
The movie tells the story of the passengers on a space-ship that is headed to a second Earth after the mother-planet is well on the way to ....die? explode? become very very unconfortable?
The main hero, played by Ben Foster, wakes up with a memory loss and finds himself on this ship that seems to have gone to hell. Most of the passengers are missing and he finds corpses that have been brutally gutted. Creatures begin to chase him that look like mutated barbarians. It's overall very confusing, but slowly, as his memory comes back, he is able to find clues and people that explain what happened on the ship.
Dennis Quaid plays another pilot who woke up, but stayed in the sleep chamber room while our hero (B. Foster) goes on his dangerous trip to gain control of the ship. Quaid has not been a brand for quality movies recently but did a good job of playing this deranged pilot who turns out to be the reason for all the havoc on the ship. Ben Foster was excellent and carried the story through some of the rough spots.
Fun fact - one other survivor that Fosters character meets is played by Cung Le, my favorite mixed martial arts fighter. If you go watch some of his fights on youtube - you'll see why. This guy is a f***ing killing machine. And I really dig his fighting style.
The idea behind the mutants I thought was pretty original and cool - the people on board the ship had been injected with a serum that would help their bodies adapt to the new environment on the planet they are heading to - but due to them waking up during the long trip, some of them mutated as an adaption to the space ship.
The other really cool idea was what had happened to the ship and where it had gone since everything had gone out of control. We don't find out until the very end when Dennis Quaid opens up the view of the cockpit and we see ....nothing. Pitch black. Ideas start flying through your head as to what that could mean...and then they see glowing creatures....and realize that they already landed on the planet a long time ago and are under-water.
Over-all the atmosphere, acting, story made this a really good original sci-fi movie. So - take that Geroge Lukas! :p
Then I watched Pandorum. This movie surprised me as I wasn't expecting much. It was actually really fun to watch and had some great twists at the end. Here is my short review and to be fair - Spoiler Alert! I will be going into some story plot details.
The movie tells the story of the passengers on a space-ship that is headed to a second Earth after the mother-planet is well on the way to ....die? explode? become very very unconfortable?
The main hero, played by Ben Foster, wakes up with a memory loss and finds himself on this ship that seems to have gone to hell. Most of the passengers are missing and he finds corpses that have been brutally gutted. Creatures begin to chase him that look like mutated barbarians. It's overall very confusing, but slowly, as his memory comes back, he is able to find clues and people that explain what happened on the ship.
Dennis Quaid plays another pilot who woke up, but stayed in the sleep chamber room while our hero (B. Foster) goes on his dangerous trip to gain control of the ship. Quaid has not been a brand for quality movies recently but did a good job of playing this deranged pilot who turns out to be the reason for all the havoc on the ship. Ben Foster was excellent and carried the story through some of the rough spots.
Fun fact - one other survivor that Fosters character meets is played by Cung Le, my favorite mixed martial arts fighter. If you go watch some of his fights on youtube - you'll see why. This guy is a f***ing killing machine. And I really dig his fighting style.
The idea behind the mutants I thought was pretty original and cool - the people on board the ship had been injected with a serum that would help their bodies adapt to the new environment on the planet they are heading to - but due to them waking up during the long trip, some of them mutated as an adaption to the space ship.
The other really cool idea was what had happened to the ship and where it had gone since everything had gone out of control. We don't find out until the very end when Dennis Quaid opens up the view of the cockpit and we see ....nothing. Pitch black. Ideas start flying through your head as to what that could mean...and then they see glowing creatures....and realize that they already landed on the planet a long time ago and are under-water.
Over-all the atmosphere, acting, story made this a really good original sci-fi movie. So - take that Geroge Lukas! :p
Smokin'
Here a link to a video of the Icelandic Volcano which everybody should have heard of by now.
http://vimeo.com/11673745
Makes me wonder if this was the islands reaction to the things going on over there - smoking out the bad guys... But a beautiful video non the less.
Once the international community has agreed to cut the debt we will turn it off...promise :)
http://vimeo.com/11673745
Makes me wonder if this was the islands reaction to the things going on over there - smoking out the bad guys... But a beautiful video non the less.
Once the international community has agreed to cut the debt we will turn it off...promise :)
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