Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Still trying to post something relevant to the Halloween season, I dug out two countdowns of the scariest films of all time, the first is an unranked look at 20 great genre films at the hands of Entertainment Weekly, originally published in 2004, the second a top 10 from MSN Movies. Of course, there is plenty of similarities, the classic pictured Exorcist, as well as John Carpenter's Halloween, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Tobe Hooper's, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Still, there are a few interesting choices on both lists, most strikingly the appearance of David Lynch films. The bizarrely creepy voyeur Lost Highway on EW's countdown and the nightmarish surrealism from 1977's Eraserhead on MSN's list. Enjoy.

Another spot on EW's list is Jonathan Demme's 1991 Oscar-winning masterpiece The Silence of the Lambs. This is in no small part due to Anthony Hopkins brilliant performance as Hannibal Lecter. So it would seem the perfect time to pass along an article from The Hollywood Reporter that confirms Hopkins will add the role of Odin, Thor's father and ruler of Asgard to his repertoire of roles in the upcoming Marvel film Thor.

Currently, I'm reading an interview with Ridley Scott in Empire to see if he spills anything interesting about the Alien prequel he is set to direct down the line. I'm a bit saddened that it sheds light on nothing at all.

I mentioned yesterday that I was searching for Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, starring Andy Serkis, whom received a nod at the British Independent Film Awards for his performance, yesterday. Well, I regret to report that I can find nothing. When searching YouTube, if a trailer exists, it is trumped by actual videos of Ian Dury, in which the film is a biopic of. IMDb also currently lists the project as "in production", so hopefully I'll eventually grab this for a post.

Finally, the wait for a big trailer for James Cameron's Avatar is over. I resisted the temptation of posting a bootlegged low quality version last week. If you decide to actually watch this thing, please do it full screen. As a note, I actually hate when people talk about how awesome Transformers was, because it was all effects with no substance. I mean, there is plenty of films that put a good deal of bang in both categories, but after watching this trailer, attached to the huge buzz of the theater experience this will bring, it may be the only film I am really going to champion on effects alone. Not saying I'm ruling out a decent storyline, but really, there is too much eye candy in this to really care about Sam Worthington's legs, allegories to Native Americans or similarities to FernGully: The Last Rainforest's environmentalist bravado.

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

During the Halloween season, there is always a plethora of places I want to go, including and not limited to, Halloween film festivals, corn maizes and supposedly haunted places to do a ghost investigation. One thing that I never really think of, especially seeing that I'm in the part of the world that cinema usually overlooks, is filming locations to classic horror fare. Turns out that in Morristown, Tennessee, roughly an hour and half away, was the site of Sam Raimi's classic 1981 The Evil Dead. Sadly, the site has a no trespassing sign up, but you can visit this web page to see pictures of the remnants of the burnt cabin if you would rather set online and look over risking jail time. They're also selling vials of earth and burnt cabin remnants. Anyways, this may warrant a stop on the next trip through the area.

Cinematical has a great countdown today of the seven best horror themes. A fitting countdown for the month that includes The Exorcist, Halloween and Psycho, among others.

Collider recently interviewed Jackie Earle Haley to debunk rumors that the actor will return to the DC Universe, this time to play Sinestro in the feature film adaptation of The Green Lantern. The good thing though, Haley didn't say he was uninterested, just was without invitation. So, we know Haley is a great actor, but with Haley being known to comic fans as Rorschach, would this be seen negatively? I mean, sure the man playing Hal Jordan, Ryan Reynolds, is also known as Deadpool, but that was in the horrific and very forgettable X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Still, I think Haley may be the best name I've heard thrown around for the role, so hopefully if casting hasn't already gotten underway, the folks over at Warner Brothers/DC will take a look at the positive buzz and consider this.

Speaking of superhero casting, until a sequel to The Dark Knight is either in theaters or completely confirmed to be dead, rumors will run rampant on who will be casted as the new villains. Well, this has been on my mind today as I had an off day from work and school and spent the entire day not moving from playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. Sure, I may have jumped aboard a bit late on this, but I can't get over how brilliant the character of Harley Quinn is. There is a overabundance of message boards you can go to in order to find who the public wants to play the villainess if she were to ever hit the big screen, such as this one from Newsarama, showing how truly terrible casting directors the general public would be. Anyhow, who do you think would make a good Harley? Of course, there is the veterans to the role, Arleen Sorkin, who voices The Joker's stalker-esque female companion in the aforementioned game as well as Harley's most widely known incarnation in Batman: The Animated Series. I also didn't think Marielle Guerber was a slouch in her version of the role in the dark French short Ashes to Ashes. The perfect voice, and possibly the perfect look if it had been shot right after the Wachowskis' Bound would have been Jennifer Tilly. Still, I can't really think outside the box on this one as reading down any list, they all seem absurd. Conversely though, I originally thought the same when I heard Heath Ledger's name mentioned, and that is now the reason that the future of Christopher Nolan's incredible reboot of the franchise is now in question... because he could never be duplicated. Anyhow, I'm going to get back to the game.

Sunday, October 11th, 2009 (Short Film Sunday: Runaway Brain)

Today will be the first Short Film Sunday that I have posted since the ever-lengthening Halloween season has began. So, in honor of the time of year, as well as a story from Cinematical earlier in the week on Epic Mickey, I thought I would go for a no-brainer with Chris Bailey's 1995 animated horror-homage short starring Mickey Mouse, Runaway Brain.

The aforementioned story was that Pixar Animation is rumored to be considering adapting the new imaginative upcoming Nintendo Wii game, Epic Mickey, into a feature film. The game, due out next fall, looks strikingly well for a Wii game, and is already in talks to be developed to Play Station 3 and Microsoft XBox 360. The plot of the story is that some of the more jaded characters in the Disney animation canon is angered at Mickey Mouse's endearing and undying cultural status, led by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' original creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, begin wreaking havoc on some of the more beloved Disney stories. Back to the Cinematical article about the consideration of putting the game's intriguing plot on the big screen, it caught my eye as special due to the fact that it will be the first time the newer generation will see a charming version of Mickey, which, in the last few years has become more synonymous with any other symbols of conglomeration or bastardry. In fact, the last time I was happy to see Mickey on screen was during his brief cameo in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So, it brings up the question, could the cutesy mouse be entertaining enough to keep the attention of children once again in a new generation outside of Kingdom Hearts and in the cinematic world?

Well, I may had answered that question myself when I was reading my latest copy of Geek Monthly, and saw the ad for Medicom's figure for Runaway Brain (as pictured up above), and remembered the nice little short that accompanied by A Kid in King Arthur's Court and George of the Jungle, as well as being on the home video release for A Goofy Movie. Of course, before I watched it again, I didn't recall it being as good as it was. Some of the finer points missed during my younger, more innocent days, is the fact that Mickey is playing a Mortal Kombat style game with characters of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, that Kelsey Grammar voices Dr. Frankenollie (which Wikipedia tells me is named for classic Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston), the frame that mimics the poster for The Exorcist, and a nice Wilhelm scream.

As for the director Chris Bailey, he has yet to take a jump into feature films, but is best known outside of this short, which played at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, for being an animator on The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. So, without further adieu, enjoy Runaway Brain.

P.S., since I've not been blogging as of late, a bonus short for today. After talking about Oswald up there, I thought I would give him his moment after I found the famous 1927 short that brought the character to prominence, Trolley Troubles, directed by Disney himself.