Movies

“…When he captured Friola he ordered a massacre accompanied by torture. Everybody was to be blinded, have their noses removed and have arms and legs chopped off. After this, they were left to die in the open. He walled up a whole family of his enemies in their castle and left them to starve to death…”

Humankind has a macabre fascination with atrocity. From the above description of the thirteenth century Italian warlord Ezzelino de Romano to Eli Roth’s Hostel films, each of us possess a morbid voyeurism that easily explains the undying allure of horror cinema, and there’s a direct link between lurid tales of medieval torture and the depravity of movies like Tokyo Home Stay Massacre, the latest release from Tokyo Bay Films Entertainment.

The road to Hell, so the saying goes, is paved with good intentions. Nowhere is this more apparent than the world of cinema, which is littered with the corpses of well-meaning mega-buck misfires, inane studio fare and independent duds alike. Nothing leaves a bad taste in a collective audience’s mouth more than a movie marred by shabby directing, faulty performances or bland pacing when there was ample opportunity for success. Yet there are two strains of bad film: those that are of unintentional poor quality, and those that are not. For every hundred Plan 9 From Outer Space and Waterworld that aspires to greatness and fails, a Rocky Horror Picture Show (or, indeed, a Bad Taste) rises from the depths to celebrate its own campiness with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

The idea of utilizing toys, dolls and puppets as the antagonists in horror films is a risky endeavor for filmmakers. While it’s true that such figures oftentimes contain an inherent creepiness to them--who hasn’t been convinced the round, unblinking eyes of a doll have watched them from afar?--the absurdity in making a mere child’s bauble the vehicle for purest evil is frequently too great to overcome. From Chucky to Annabelle to Full Moon’s Puppetmaster series, every possible permutation of this (very) limited subgenre has seemingly been toyed with already to anemic effect, yet Hollywood still believes it can bleed another imaginative drop from the storytelling corpse.

Ahhhh, sweet nostalgia. To yearn for those simple, bygone days of Camaros with cassette decks, high school science projects and hopeless crushes, of listening to Heart LP’s and praying a freshly-resurrected demonic entity doesn’t possess your best friend. Who could forget such blood-splattered innocence?

Tony and Lisa are two awkward teenagers, stumbling through life cluelessly, interacting with peers mired down in their own quirks of hypersexuality and impulsivity. Among all of them, Tony and Lisa are perfect for each other. They're shy, inexperienced, and ready to take that next step with each other.

There's just one problem: they're siblings. Not "Greg and Marsha Brady" siblings. Not half-siblings. Full on same set of parents siblings.

CALL ME BROTHER is a slice of AMERICAN PIE, baked up by MALLRATS and served by NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. It's distinctly independent, and not as prurient as the plot may lead you to believe. While the film is full of sex acts and innuendo, it's off panel or well blocked -- not a stitch of nudity, so if you're looking for that, keep it in your pants, perv.

Fugue (fyoog), n, a period of amnesia which the affected person seems to be conscious and make rational decisions, yet upon recovery remembers nothing of the period.

There is an easily identifiable link between the remote location of the Rock Street Films North production, Fugue, and the foggy isolation associated with memory loss. When Malcolm (Jack Foley) awakes in the mid-afternoon, dressed in his pajamas and unaware of his identity, the vast secluded countryside surrounding his house mirrors his own deserted mental state, and the calm opening scenes as he gropes for tiny familiarity amid everyday routines eases viewers into a world where no one is who they seem and time itself becomes a puzzle.

Horror has always been a land of allegory. From the nervous awakenings of the sexual revolution in Rosemary’s Baby to the zombie-consumerist underpinnings of Dawn of the Dead and the politico-anarchism of The Purge, the darkest of all entertainment genres allows creators an outlet for societal commentary unmatched in other venues. Romantic comedies, after all, aren’t known for gazing deep into life’s abyss to see what stares back at them.

Superhero movies are mostly seen as overly expensive special effects flicks that carry a fraction of artistic value. Nevertheless, even through their simplified narrative, superhero movies and tv shows point out the value of friendship, positive attitude, and persistence towards achieving a goal. All these messages are vital for college students because they can provide a guideline for overcoming the challenges of academic life.

We asked students for their opinion, and here is a list of 10 favorite superhero flix among college students.

When I went to art school in my attempt to be creative, I came across many talented people in various mediums such as drawing and painting.  Although many of these extremely gifted people were affable and had wonderful demeanors, there were a few that flaunted the stereotype of the “temperamental artist”.  Arenamedia and Dark Star Pictures film Acute Misfortune wades into the deepest and darkest end of the pool with a based on a true story of renowned Australian artist Adam Cullen.

Journalist Erik Jensen (Toby Wallace) is tasked to writing an article on acclaimed artist Adam Cullen (Daniel Henshaw) who lives in South Wales.  After his article is published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Adam asks Erik to be his official biographer.  Erik agrees and Adam drags him into a jet-black world of nihilism, male toxicity, depravity, and self-destruction in addition to his talent as a painter.

If there's one thing genre cinema had taught audiences over the years, it's that a wise omen should never be ignored. Whether it's Gregory Peck waving aside all evidence that little Damien is an infernal spawn or Crazy Ralph's unheeded warnings to arriving counselors to stay away from Camp Crystal Lake, rejecting Cassandra-like forewarnings, particularly from your elders, is one of the surest and quickest theatrical paths to dire disaster.

With dozens of superhero movies in the pipeline or in-production right now, there are plenty of comic book capers to look forward to over the next few years. Here’s a look at five of the most exciting ones to look out for.

5. Morbius

Scientist Michael Morbius suffers from a rare blood disease. After attempting a dangerous cure, he finds he has become afflicted with a type of vampirism. The bloodthirsty character with amazing superpowers, Morbius, has been a Marvel-fan favorite for some time, and he finally gets to star in his own movie. Jared Leto plays the title character, and Doctor Who actor Matt Smith joins him as Loxias Crown. Morbius will hit cinemas in 2021. But if you can’t wait until then, you could get into the superhero mood in the meantime by playing the Super Heroes slot game, which is available at Casumo casino.

THE SECRET GARDEN is one of those literary and film classics that, for whatever reason, has evaded my radar. Even the original version with Margaret O'Brien and Dean Stockwell has somehow gone unseen by me, despite may years of having watched such family classics on television, VHS, and DVD.

Would that I could have continued my streak -- or, perhaps, have seen it in one of it's prior versions.

There’s nothing like a murder to bring a broken family together.

That’s the core conceit of Blumhouse Films’ latest release, The Lie, and there are not-so-subtle parallels between the bleak wintry setting and the cold emotional distance of a once-happy family shattered by divorce and miscommunication. The frigid cinematography of the opening scenes in upstate New York, where teenaged Kayla admits to her divorcee father that she purposely pushed her friend from a footbridge into the freezing river waters below serve to set up the icy tone of lies, deceit and eventual bloodshed that follows.

Let's begin with an existential exercise: Who are you? Or put another way, How do you know who you really are? The most obvious answer is that you are, in a way, your memories--that you know who you are because you remember you are. Take away or alter those recollections and you cease to be who you once were. We become the epitome of Heinlein's Michael Valentine, a stranger in a strange land.

The core of the Blumhouse release Black Box is rife with such philosophical pickings, an intricate, million-piece psychological puzzle that immerses the viewer in the travails of professional photographer Nolan Wright's struggle to find his identity after surviving a car accident that killed his wife Rachel and left him with brain damage-induced amnesia. His is a lost world, where his grade-school age daughter Eva must take the reins with cooking and keeping her father on a daily routine with sticky-note reminders to do everyday activities.

THE DEVIL TO PAY from Lane and Ruckus Skye is a low-key thriller that is riveting from beginning to end. Set in Appalachian country, the film is populated with soft-spoken killers, simple-living country folks, and a bizarre religious cult. 

It is in this setting that we are introduced to Lemon Cassidy (Danielle Deadwyler), a farmer living on the mountain in a simple clapboard house with her son, Coy (Ezra Haslam). Her husband has been away on a chore, and it is shortly into the film we learn what that was and who it was for: he had taken a favor from Tommy Runion (Catherine Dyer), a charming sweet-talking lady who is nonetheless ruthless. The price for his favor was to steal a gold watch from the Knox family and bring it to her, a revenge-payment for the Knox family having commited a (to most folks) seemingly trivial trespass against the Runions.

Introduction

College years contain the best memories of a student. Besides studies, the movies you watch with your friends are cherishable and enjoyable for all. There are some fantastic movies about college life of students like PITCH PERFECT, THE SOCIAL NETWORK and many others.

There have been numerous takes on the Holmes legacy left by creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to have included books, television shows, movies, and even a incorporated inot the canonical universes of both DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

ENOLA HOLMES was, perhaps, an inevitablity. Having already seen takes at Mycroft Holmes (THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER), the idea of a Holmes sister, while explored disturbingly in the final series of SHERLOCK, is a concept ripe with opportunity for the YA market, and one well capitalized on by author Nancy Springer.

Aaron Beckman (David A.R. White) is an assassin for hire who wants out of the game. Injured during an encounter in Los Angeles, he takes refuge in a church, giving a satchel of money to the pastor, Philip (JUSTIFIED's Jeff Fahey). The pastor is at his own crossroads of faith over his failing health, and we quickly forward two years later to Philip's own death. Beckman takes over as the church's shepherd, until he comes to a crossroads of his own, preparing to leave everything behind when history repeats itself and another lost soul comes to the door needing sanctuary: a young woman named Tabitha (Brighton Sharbino, THE WALKING DEAD).

The CATS & DOGS franchise operates on the conceit that animals can all talk, and that cats and dogs work together to operate a high-tech MI-6 inspired operation to protect the world from other cats and dogs who have evil plans for the world. Using voice actors and CGI, it was an entertaining franchise for children to watch, and had enough of a plot to keep the adults awake.

With this third installment, PAWS UNITE, the notion of an engaging plot has been thrown out with the kitty litter.

One of the fun activities while attending comic and scifi conventions is heading off to one of the side rooms to watch fan films. These range from the basic no-budget stories shot on a smart phone while making it up as you go along, to large budget Star Trek stories with special effects and -- sometimes -- actors from the actual series. Mostly they're a mix, with a modest budget, inexperienced actors, and a simplistic plot. The goal overall is just to have fun watching them as well as making them.