Category: Movies

“The Ruins” (2008) / Z-View

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“The Ruins” (2008)
Director: Carter Smith
Screenplay: Scott B. Smith
Stars: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore, Joe Anderson and Sergio Calderón.
The Pitch: I was all set to go with “Hostel” meets “Little Shoppe of Horrors” without the comedy. Then I read Jeremy Butler’s pitch [at Chud.com] of “It’s ‘Hostel’ meets ‘Day of the Triffids’” and liked his better.
The Overview: Two young American on vacation meet a stranger who tells them about a little-known Mayan temple. The five of them decide to go out and take a look. Once there, bad things begin to happen. Very bad things.The Good:

  • The acting.
  • The cast was made up of relative unkowns so it was possible that any of them could be killed at any point.
  • The screenplay by Scott B. Smith based upon his novel of the same name [and which he changed up for the big screen].
  • The fact that you believed what was happening.
  • That each of the bad things that happens to the characters basically stems from them trying to do a good thing or at least the right thing.
  • That the movie takes you in one direction and suddenly you’re going in another and it works.
  • You care about the characters.

The Bad: What happens when you’re trapped on the top of an ancient ruin by unfriendly locals and something much, much worse.

The Ugly:

“He won’t last much longer like this. We’re gonna have to cut them off.”

“Cut what off?”

“His legs.”

The Summary: I love a good scary movie. I’m not much for gore. “The Ruins” is scary and contains gore. Some very gory scenes in fact. Despite the gore, I loved “The Ruins.”  I’d recommend it to anyone who likes horror movies and doesn’t mind being a bit grossed out.

Baker Shut Out

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Quick, name a person famous for doing special effects make-up. I’ll bet your answer [if you had one] was Rick Baker. That’s because Rick Baker is a genius… a legend.

Look at his list of credits and you can see that Rick Baker is the go-to guy for special effects make-up. He’s won 6 Academy Awards for his work in this area. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg. Baker has earned so many honors for his work that the list is, as they say, longer than your arm… unless of course you’re Lurch and then it’s just as long.

So… can you imagine that Rick Baker would be hired on to do the effects for a movie and then not only be shut out of the process, but treated with disrespect? In an interview with Capone at Ain’t It Cool News, Baker said, “They would shoot scenes using my work when I wasn’t even there… Other times when I was there if I try to look at the monitor, someone would literally stand in my way and block it.” Baker also spoke to MTV about his displeasure.

I had high hopes for “The Wolf Man.” Perhaps the movie will still be good, but I don’t see how I’ll be able to watch it without wondering how much better it could have been had they allowed Rick Baker to completely work his magic.

The Kingdom Worth a Visit

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The Pitch: An American FBI unit is begrudgingly sent to Saudi Arabia with limited time and resources to find out who was behind a devastating bombing attack on American civilians.

The Good: The opening credits which through voice-over and animated timeline give us a brief, but entertaining history of Saudi Arabia. Peter Berg’s direction. Jason Bateman is surprisingly good — I didn’t realize he could be a tough guy. The kidnapping / shootout / rescue scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Bad: What happens if you’re even suspected of a crime in the Saudi military.

The Ugly: What eventually happens to most bomb makers.

The Summary: “The Kingdom” doesn’t, pardon the expression, blast out of the shoot. It takes it’s time to tell the story, but once the kidnapping takes place things really move. I enjoyed it.

London After Midnight Found?

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Harry, over at AICN has posted that a print of “London After Midnight” has been found. Long thought to be a lost film, “London After Midnight” starred Lon Chaney and was directed by Todd “Freaks” Browning.

To horror fans and film buffs finding a copy of this film would be like Indiana Jones finding the Holy Grail. This isn’t the first time it’s been reported that a copy has been found, but according to Harry’s sources, this could be the real deal.

I hope that this pans out and that the film is restored and given a theatrical revival before hitting dvd. You can bet that I’ll follow the story and report any news here.

Brubaker’s Angel of Death [2008]

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I’m a fan of Ed Brubaker’s crime fiction so I was glad to hear that he has a new live-action crime series called “Angel of Death” set to premiere in 2009. Zoe Bell, best known for her work in Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” will star as an assassin who, after suffering a severe head wound, becomes so haunted by her victims that she decides to go after the crime family that ordered the hits. What makes this weekly series unique is that each episode will be eight to ten minutes in length and air on-line!You can read the full story here.

By the way, Sean Phillips, who teamed with Brubaker for Sleeper and Criminal did the promo art above.

Craig’s "Dark Knight" Review

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The Pitch: Batman done right.

The Overview: Batman has been fighting crime for a year. He’s formed an uneasy alliance with police Lieutenant James Gordon and together they have made the streets of Gotham a bit safer. Harvey Dent, the charismatic and popular district attorney, with the aide of attorney Rachael Dawes [Bruce Wayne’s ex] are putting away criminals through the courts. Together the four [Batman, Gordon, Dent and Dawes] have created a one-two punch taking on organized crime in Gotham.

Without warning and with no explanation, a criminal psychopath who calls himself the Joker appears on the scene and begins to terrorize the city. Batman, Gordon and Dent will have to pay a terrible toll if they are to have even a chance at stopping the Joker.

The Good:

  • Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker is amazing from every little tic and nod to the perfect inflection with his dialogue. Ledger understood that the Joker isn’t a clown, but instead a psycho with face paint.
  • The screenplay by Jonathon and Christopher Nolan provides great action sequences, spot on characterization and grounds everything in reality.
  • Christopher Nolan’s direction.
  • The city of Gotham. This is the first time in any Batman movie that the city seemed real.
  • The dinner scene with Bruce, his date, Rachael and Harvey. Bruce went in not wanting to like Harvey, but comes to realize he is a decent man and leaves respecting him.
  • The use of Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.
  • Every scene with Heath Ledger as the Joker.
  • Bringing back Cillian Murphy for one scene as the Scarecrow.
  • The use of the right actors for small but important roles: Eric Roberts as Salvatore Maroni, William Fichtner as the bank manager, “Tiny” Tim Lester as a convict. Anthony Michael Hall, Jai White and Nestor Carbonell also appear.
  • Gary Oldman is perfect in his role as Gordon.
  • The effects for Harvey Dent as Two-Face. The way the coin toss; Two-Face name, and new look of his outfit is all worked out for the movie.
  • The Joker telling Batman the opposite locations for the rescure of Rachael and Harvey. The Joker’s scene with the criminal bosses, the Joker being “questioned” by the Batman, the Joker visiting Harvey in the hospital and then the scene right after when he walks out of the hospital. So much of the movie is just plain good. Oh, and did I mention that Heath Ledger ruled in his role as the Joker?


The Bad: I’m not sure Maggie Gyllenhaal was the best person to play Rachael and I still don’t like the look of Batman’s cowl, but with so much to like about the movie, let’s just move on, ok?

The Ugly: What happens to Harvey Dent.

The Summary: I’m a Batman fan. No prior Batman movie had given me a Batman that totally worked… not even Nolan and Bale’s “Batman Begins.” “The Dark Knight” works. It works because the movie is grounded and the characters are treated with respect. Excellent choices were made all the way around. Heath Ledger’s performance is amazing and gives the movie an additional boost. I look forward to having “The Dark Knight” in my dvd collection.

The Ghost of Gargantua

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A trailer for Wild Bill Black’s “The Ghost of Gargantua” is now on-line. “Ghost of Gargantua” is the sequel to Bill’s ever-popular “The Amazing Colossal Woman.” Long-time ZONErs may remember this post where I talked about filming that was going to take place at one of Tim Gordon’s Tampa Cons. It did and much of it appears in the trailer below.

Here’s some trivia before you watch:

* The screaming crowd scenes were filmed on August 20, 2006 using fans in attendance at Tim Gordon’s con.

* At 2:09 in the trailer there is a close-up reaction shot of “The James” Howell. If you look closely at the collar of his shirt, you’ll notice its red. The red was from fake blood. Earlier in the day, we had shot a scene of “The James” being attacked by a vampire in a hotel room. That scene will appear in a future Bill Black release.

* You may recognize the four mugs featured in the trailer and pictured below: starting at the top and going clockwise – 1] “The James” Howell – comic book and art collector, writer and director and all around great guy 2] me 3] John “The Master” Higashi – comic art collector, master of sketches, leader of the pack 4] John “Big” Beatty – comic book artist, king of nonsense, and my oldest friend [although not as old as Jim Ivey or Bill Black].

* John Beatty is wearing a patch in the trailer. It’s a running gag that his character, “Patch,” shows up in several of Bill’s movies. This is his second appearance with a third soon to follow!

* John Higashi gets a close-up in the trailer where he yells “Godzilla.” It was totally ad-libbed and brought down the house.


So sit down, relax, let your mind take you back to the days of drive-ins, Nightmare Theater and watch the trailer for “The Ghost of Gargantua!”

Wild Bill Checks In

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My old buddy [okay, he’s not that old], Wild Bill Black dropped in to say that he’s going to be a guest at Tim Gordon’s August 10th comic show. Tim’s shows are always a blast and having Bill there just adds to the fun. Wild Bill says that he’ll bring some of his comics and dvds for fans to purchase. Autographs are free. ; )Bill said that he’ll also bring some trailers and film clips for the show’s film room. But why wait, you can see the trailer for The Blue Bulleteer Captured by the Cloak by clicking here.

If you’re able to make the show, you should. I can gurantee a fun time.

Watchmen Trailer!

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It’s not my favorite graphic novel of all time, but after seeing this trailer for Watchmen, I can’t wait to see the movie adaptation. Looks like Zack Snyder has pulled a three-peat with his “Dawn of the Dead” remake, “300” and now “Watchmen.”

My guess is that a lot of Watchmen fans will be ordering Dave Gibbons’ Watching the Watchmen book. Maybe I’ll pull down the graphic novel and give it another read.