Category: Movies

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.

All Time Best Movie Endings

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TimesOnLine.com has posted their list of the All Time Best Movie Endings. Although my favorite movie ending wasn’t on the list, [“Ain’t gonna be no rematch!” “Don’t want one… Adrian!”], I’ll play along. Here are my top ten favorite movie endings using just those on their list:

  1. The Sixth Sense: everything that has happened throughout the movie is seen in a different light and makes complete sense. There hasn’t been a movie ending since that has stirred as much buzz.

  2. Se7en: You don’t even have to see what’s in the box to know…

  3. Planet of the Apes: I was 9 or 10 seeing it on the big screen and was stunned! Coolest ending I’d ever seen up to that point.

  4. The Usual Suspects: Much like The Sixth Sense everything that has happened throughout the movie is seen in a different light and makes complete sense.

  5. Carrie: I saw this at a midnight showing during it’s initial release. So it’s about 2am, I think the movie is over and get the shock of my life. I almost went over the back of my seat I jumped so high — probably gave the person behind me the shock of his life!

  6. Momento: This is one of my son, Mike’s favorite movies. That alone would get it on the list since he has such good taste in film. I dig it too.

  7. Casablanca: The perfect ending to a perfect movie.

  8. The Wizard of Oz: Remember how cool it was being a little kid and suddenly realizing that all of the people around Dorothy’s bed were the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion. the Tin Man and the Wizard?

  9. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Another favorite movie that had a classic ending.

  10. Doctor Strangelove: The ending is almost as classic as the scene with Slim Pickens riding the A-Bomb down!
Thanks to Bill Crider for the link!

“Hell Ride” Poster [2008]

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The red band teaser trailer for Hell Ride is now online. It looks exactly like the kind of movie that we’d see as the second or third feature showing at a drive-in back in the 70’s. It’s a revenge biker flick starring Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, David Carradine, Dennis Hopper, that guy who used to be on “24” and presented by Quentin Tarantino. Yeah, I’m in.  And not just because Hell Ride has a cool poster.

Day of the Dead [2008]

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The Pitch: “Day of the Dead” updated with fast moving zombies and no George Romero.

The Good: The idea of a town being quarantined by the military. The chaos when the zombies begin attacking. Ving Rhames. Mena Suvari is a cutie. Several zombies jumping in unison out second [third?] story windows to get a people on the ground.

The Bad: Not enough Ving Rhames. Zombies climbing sheer walls and across ceilings. Zombies exploding when set on fire. Characters repeatedly making stupid decisions: [“Let’s sneak back into the city full of zombies that we escaped from so we can hold up in a room full of windows.” “Let‘s keep a zombie alive because he follows orders.”] Smart zombies — zombies firing guns — a zombie not attacking people because he is a vegetarian!

The Ugly: The alternate ending. Boy, if they’d have used it the movie would have been even worse.

The Summary: “Day of the Dead” is a remake of my least favorite Romero zombie movie. If you’re a real fan of zombie movies then you probably won’t mind some of this movie’s badness [and I don’t mean badness in a good way]. If you’re just a passing fan of the genre then you ought to pass on it.

Eastern Promises

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The Pitch: “The Godfather” with a Russian twist.

The Good: Viggo Mortensen owns every second he is own the screen. Armin Mueller-Stahl quietly demands to be watched and heard in every scene — which is exactly what is needed as the kind restaurant owner, family man and head of a Russian mob. The killings in the public bath — brutal, but believable. The twist near the end — I totally did not see it coming and loved it.

The Bad: The movie is slow to get started and then moves at a steady pace. The violence is there, but not as bad as you may have heard.

The Ugly: “Okay. Now I’m going to do his teeth and cut off his fingers. You might want to leave room.”

The Summary: “Eastern Promises” is a brutal look at the Russian mafia. Viggo Mortensen gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the “driver.” The violence may put some off, but it grounds the movie’s reality. I have a feeling that this one is going to grow on me as time passes.